New Orleans Pelicans: NAW is Poised to Break Out at NBA Disney

The New Orleans Pelicans hope that Nickeil Alexander-Walker is ready to contribute consistently when the season restarts in Orlando.

While Zion Williamson and Lonzo Ball have gotten most of the attention for the New Orleans Pelicans, Nickeil Alexander-Walker was grinding in the shadows.

NAW has been recovering physically from a wrist injury and mentally from a demotion to the G-League after he failed to contribute consistently early in the season.

Alexander-Walker has been cleared to play in Orlando and has a chance to be an important contributor once things get going.

According to VP of Basketball Operations David Griffin, NAW put on nearly an inch of height during the hiatus. The Pelicans could use his height on the wing, as they are thin defensively and need a plan B if things aren’t going well.

When asked about his additional height by Pelicans.com, NAW responded:

"“I didn’t realize it until I got back, but I’ll take it. I’m never not going to take an extra inch. If I could get another ¾ that would be cool.”"

While most of us stopped growing vertically sometime in high school, NAW is out there putting on height.

New Orleans Pelicans: Nickeil Alexander-Walker is using the left, studying Manu Ginobili.

NAW also spent the hiatus working on his left hand, which seems to have paid dividends. In this video, you can see him taking it to the hoop and finishing with the left, and even shooting lefty from long-range:

Part of this new fascination with the left hand comes from NAW’s film study of Manu Ginobili. NAW apparently asked the New Orleans Pelicans’ film crew for tape on Ginobili so he could learn from the crafty Manu.

NAW had this to say about learning from Ginobili:

"“I messaged one of the film guys about Manu Ginobili specifically because I had to use my left a lot….his craftiness, his speed, his change of pace. He was a great player in my opinion, and (I was) just trying to pick up as much as I can from him. There are kind of ‘older era’ guys that aren’t really around right now but that were effective.”"

I take offense to his “older era guys” crack, but it will be interesting to see if NAW can apply anything he’s learned from watching Ginobili.

Alexander-Walker is just trying to make his way back to the rotation at this point, but if he does, his hard work and study have put him in a position to succeed.

He could end up being a wild card for the New Orleans Pelicans in Orlando, increasing their depth and defense on the wing.