Orlando Magic 2019 NBA Draft Preview: Nickeil Alexander-Walker is a high-IQ player with physical limitations

What should the Orlando Magic do?

When you look at some of the areas of weakness on the Orlando Magic roster, you are likely to recognize shooting and playmaking as some of the glaring issues.

Orlando Magic

Nickeil Alexander-Walker would undoubtedly help the Magic in terms of shooting (40 percent from NBA range). He also happens to check the front office’s mantra of drafting long players who need to develop their bodies and play defense.

But Alexander-Walker is far more ready to contribute than some of Orlando’s more recent draft picks.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker shows more craft and skill than Jonathan Isaac or Mohamed Bamba did in their college careers. Of course, because he was a wing player, Alexander-Walker was able to show off more of his skills than those two, and Alexander-Walker was also a two-year college player as opposed to a freshman.

There is little doubt Alexander-Walker will be a NBA player for close to a decade. But the argument surrounding his ceiling is a little ridiculous.

At only 20 years old, Alexander-Walker played against incredibly tough competition and excelled when playing in the role he prepared for. He also kept his team afloat when being asked to pick up a new role.

The style of basketball he plays shows an incredible amount of basketball IQ. He sees the game on defense at an advanced level. Offensively, you rarely see him take bad shots. Most of his contested shots result from the shot clock winding down and being asked to bail out his team.

His physical limitations are definitely clear. He is not a burst or explosion athlete. But he is quick, agile and twitchy. He is similar to James Harden in that he is not a poor athlete, but he is a different athlete.

Alexander-Walker needs to be able to add functional strength to be able to defend 3s in the NBA. De’Andre Hunter absolutely took it to him by just bullying him when the two played each other in January.

But when we talk about ceilings, I do not think Alexander-Walker deserves the label of low-ceiling player. He has the ability to be a lockdown defender who also is an elite spot up threat. A lot like Toronto Raptors wing Danny Green.

But imagine giving Danny Green the ability to put together dribble combinations and run the pick and roll with some level of effectiveness. That is the probably the maxed out ceiling for Alexander-Walker.

That is a high ceiling player, and that is the kind of player the Magic should definitely be looking at with pick 16.