Kari AndersonContributing writerFri, April 24, 2026 at 10:40 PM UTC·1 min readNickeil Alexander-Walker is the NBA’s 2026 Most Improved Player, taking home the honor in his first year with the Atlanta Hawks. Alexander-Walker beat the Detroit Pistons’ Jalen Duren and the Portland Trail Blazers’ Deni Avdija for the honor.
Atlanta Hawks guard Nickeil-Alexander Walker has been named the 2025-26 Kia NBA Most Improved Player, earning the George Mikan Trophy. pic.twitter.com/XUrGlq7Ulu
After spending time on three other NBA teams, Alexander-Walker found his groove with the Hawks as a starting shooting guard, putting up a career season. He averaged 20.8 points per game — more than double his scoring from last season — along with 3.4 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.3 steals per game.
Alexander-Walker, a first-rounder in the 2019 draft, started his career with the New Orleans Pelicans before appearing with the Utah Jazz and the Minnesota Timberwolves. The guard played in all 82 games the past two years with Minnesota, putting up 8.0 and 9.4 points per game off the bench in 2023-24 and 2024-25, respectively.
In the offseason, Alexander-Walker inked a four-year, $62 million deal with the Hawks as part of a sign-and-trade. Since then, he has thrived with the Hawks, scoring the most total regular-season points on the team this year and averaging the second-most points per game.
In March, Alexander-Walker scored a career-high 41 points to help Atlanta to a double-digit winning streak. He finished the season with eight outings of 30 or more points after hitting that mark five total times in his previous six seasons.
This marks Alexander-Walker’s first NBA honor in his seven-year career.