Kari AndersonContributing writerFri, April 24, 2026 at 10:40 PM UTC·2 min readNickeil Alexander-Walker is the 2026 Most Improved Player in the league, taking home the honor in his first year with the Atlanta Hawks. Alexander-Walker beat out 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 time spent on three other NBA teams, Alexander-Walker found his groove with the Hawks as a starting shooting guard, putting up career-high stats. He averaged 20.8 points per game — more than double his scoring from last season — along with 3.4 rebounds, 3.7 asssts and 1.3 steals per game.

Alexander-Walker, a first-rounder in the 2019 draft, started his career with the New Orleans Pelicans before spending time 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 deal. From there, he has thrived with the Hawks, earning the most regular-season points on the team this season and sitting second in 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 year with eight outings of 30 points or above, after having hit that mark five total times across the rest of his career.

This marks Alexander-Walker’s first NBA honor in his seven-year career.