bdybwyi

125 | 4 hours ago

Incredible signing for ATL

Admittedly I haven’t watch a ton of them this year, has his defense held up with the higher usage rate on offense?

will7541 | Hawks

65 | 3 hours ago

Yes, second best defender on the team behind Dyson.

NAW_MIP_2026 | Hawks

43 | 3 hours ago

Legitimately our second best player on both ends. Nearly all star production offensively and elite wing defence. MIP

Pristine-System255

79 | 4 hours ago

The people’s MIP

Dense-Discussion3951 | Timberwolves

60 | 3 hours ago

I already miss him man

DukeOfStuff_ | Timberwolves

24 | 3 hours ago

Ayo is probably better then NAW was for us, but if we had this version of him it would be amazing.

soilentgleem

16 | 3 hours ago

Minnesota gambled and missed on that one. It happens, but it still sucks all the same.

Odoaiden | Timberwolves

29 | 3 hours ago

I highly doubt NAW would average more than his 9ppg on 38% from three if he stayed with us. Good for him that he finally got to leave and be on a team that lets him get shots up.

Tall-Dot-607 | Pistons

10 | 3 hours ago

I dont know about gambled and missed. They literally cant afford to keep everyone every year.

MantusTMD | Timberwolves

1 | 2 hours ago

Yeah we didn’t have a choice. Not sure where there was a gamble

NAW_MIP_2026 | Hawks

1 | an hour ago

I mean it was clearly a choice between keeping NAW and Naz Reid, obviously it’s a tough choice and chances are NAW wouldn’t have made this leap if he stayed with the wolves but I think the fact that it was viewed as a foregone conclusion rather than a real decision is a mistake from the wolves FO. Naz Reid is a great but flawed player, NAW at th etime wasn’t the level of player Naz Reid was/is but he was also a far more desired archetype.

raki016 | Timberwolves

1 | 35 minutes ago

It was also taking last years WCF in consideration.

We could’ve chosen NAW We could’ve also traded him before the deadline to get value

But we chose neither, and that’s ok. We got WCF and we got Ayo.

Some commentators and delusional fans think we could’ve kept both Naz and Naw without realizing doing so requires trading Randle, Donte, or Gobert

Isthismynextusername | Timberwolves

6 | 2 hours ago

In an era where Jokic is still dominant and Wemby is rising, prioritizing Naz and Julius made sense when our Front Office wanted to see what our young guards could do. Hindsight is ²⁰⁄₂₀

NAW_MIP_2026 | Hawks

2 | an hour ago

What are Naz and Julius Randle doing against Jokic and Wemby?

Isthismynextusername | Timberwolves

1 | 37 minutes ago

They’re the ones who stay on Jokic/Wemby while Rudy plays drop coverage. Randle and Naz serve as our small ball centers when we want to take Rudy off the court, where they’re both fast and strong enough to manage regular centers and capable of shooting from 3 (although both have been on a slump lately)

_Wash | Timberwolves

1 | 9 minutes ago

more than naw would be lol

holyhibachi

0 | 2 hours ago

I mean not really though

AccomplishedStyle600 | Knicks

37 | 3 hours ago

He should be. Keyonte’s improved quality, Gillespie went from a rotation spot-up shooter to a primary handler. Duren added a new scoring arsenal. NAW went from a low usage 3&D guy to a legit two-way connector who can handle, make reads and score in volume

DayComprehensive1078

16 | 3 hours ago

It’s him or Ryan Rollins

TeevTeeForMe | 76ers

10 | 3 hours ago

Rollins is a god candidate, but I think being a big part of team success in ATL pushes it to NAW. You feel like RR will not be the same with Giannis or another star playing.

NAW_MIP_2026 | Hawks

6 | 3 hours ago

I think the other thing is that Nickeil wast this guy at all before. Like his first team tried him as a primary scorer and he wasn’t that, then he found a new identity as a defensive role player on the wolves, and now he’s legitimately nearing all star production as a two way guard. If you told pels fans 4 years ago or twolves fans last year that NAW would average 20ppg as a second option none of them would believe you.

DayComprehensive1078

3 | 3 hours ago

My vote would be for NAW I think, but look at RR’s stats for February. Giannis didn’t play a game that month and RR was still playing very well. I think NAW is clearly the better player, but I think that RR has a case for improving more vs last season.

That aside, there’s so many names that could win it and I wouldn’t even be upset at all if it wasn’t who I thought it should be

FKJVMMP | MIL

2 | 2 hours ago

Rollins has straight up been better without Giannis. During Giannis’ healthy stretch we couldn’t string together a good run of wins primarily because Rollins and KPJ sucked absolute ass, then they got a hell of a lot better as soon as he went down.

If anything the quality of his play with Giannis should be the primary point against his MIP case.

AccomplishedStyle600 | Knicks

0 | 3 hours ago

Solid picks, I’d personally have Diabate at the top followed by those names

DayComprehensive1078

1 | 3 hours ago

I think those would be my top 3 too, but I have no idea what order I’d put them in.

There’s so many names that, if they won it instead of who I would’ve picked, I wouldn’t even be mad or upset in the slightest

RCA1202 | Thunder

27 | 3 hours ago

I don’t understand how he’s not runaway MIP

He literally doubled his scoring average on better efficiency than before while still being an elite defender

NAW_MIP_2026 | Hawks

20 | 3 hours ago

“he’s just getting more usage/minutes/shots he’s not a real MIP” yeah because you could take any 9 ppg scorer and get them to 20ppg on 45/39/90 shooting splits just by giving them more minutes and shots. And this dude was an established role player for years before this, it’s not like he’s a young player you expect to make a leap.

majidLuv | Thunder

2 | 2 hours ago

“Deni Avdija MIP” and they’re ignoring a 2 way demon who can give you 25/5/5 with 3 steals and elite defense on any given night in favour for a dude who runs and chucks bullshit up for free throws

NoHacksJustTacos

-2 | 2 hours ago

This is so ironically funny from an OKC fan 😂😂😂

majidLuv | Thunder

-1 | an hour ago

You’re a Luka glazer who’s too insecure about flairing up as a Lakers fan. At least I’m not a pussy like you

Proof-Umpire-7718 | Lakers

21 | 3 hours ago

42 is shocking.

Insane value for money.

Was expected to just be a premier 3 and D guard, but is now one of their main scorers, while also being a fantastic 3 and D player.

NAW_MIP_2026 | Hawks

10 | 3 hours ago

Nobody expected it. Hawks fans expected he would get more volume because Quinn loves threes and we needed the spacing badly when we signed him, but even the most optimistic fans thought 15ppg would be a massive success. He’s currently 15 3pm away from hitting the hawks 3pm in a season record. Kyle Korver, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Trae Young, Mookie Blaylock, some historically great 3 point shooters and Nickeil might just pass them while being the second best defender on the team.

Chessh2036 | Hawks

12 | 3 hours ago

He’s been incredible. We signed him to be a sixth man off the bench, then the injuries happened, the Trae trade, and he was pushed into the starting spot. And he stepped up in every single way. He’s just a winning player.

pdpdpdpdpdpdpdpd | Raptors

12 | 3 hours ago

So many good MIP candidates this year but he really turned up this year, I think he deserves it. Rlly did not know that he had this in him but he’s been delivering all season long

octagon2356

9 | 3 hours ago

The Hawks are back up

arenasfan00 | SAC

5 | 3 hours ago

NAW, this simply cannot be true..

absolute_cinema81 | Warriors

4 | 3 hours ago

He was a warriors pipe dream for me forever. Great player.

back2schooldaze | 76ers

5 | 3 hours ago

Sounds very MIPpy to me.

moby323 | 76ers

1 | 3 hours ago

This may sound silly but do you think he does the headband and the corn rows to look even more like his cousin?

He actually kind of moves like him sometimes, with the hair and the headband it really looks like him sometimes

Carecup | Hawks

15 | 3 hours ago

No, Shai does it to look like Nickeil

soilentgleem

4 | 3 hours ago

If that’s seriously why he does that, and I doubt it is, I revoke every single good thing I’ve ever said about him lmao

moby323 | 76ers

2 | 3 hours ago

Yeah I doubt it too but you have to admit the look is similar, even the thickness of the headband and exactly how he wears it

larzbarz | Lakers

0 | 3 hours ago

Spoken like a true hater

soilentgleem

1 | 3 hours ago

I’ll have you know, you’re speaking to the 2005 and 2006 “Hater Of the Year” award winner young man!

NAW_MIP_2026 | Hawks

2 | 3 hours ago

He has some nice handles at times but he’s not as much of a “pace/slowdown” guy with his handles, plus his shot diet is just way different, way more 3s and obviously kess isos.

moby323 | 76ers

0 | 2 hours ago

Yeah I literally just mean the way his body moves

NAW_MIP_2026 | Hawks

2 | an hour ago

Yeah I am saying it’s not that similar, he doesn’t have the same shiftiness

moby323 | 76ers

1 | an hour ago

Yeah definitely, like moving in the lane or with the ball or whatever, you are 100% right he doesn’t have that sort of jerky in and out constant shifting that SGA does so well. I’m talking more like when he is cutting off the ball or defending that he looks more like him

TexasReallyDoesSuck | NBA

2 | an hour ago

this dude has SAVED my fantasy season

Wildvalor | Hawks

1 | 2 hours ago

NAW has legitimately been playing like an all-star, he’s been insanely clutch all season and the second most important person on our team.

Stebsy1234 | Lakers

1 | 2 hours ago

Twolves fans have been trying to convince me all season that they’re better off without him lol

ZealousidealCat1829 | Timberwolves

-2 | 3 hours ago

No he hasn’t improved as much as other players. He’s always been around this caliber of player, same way it was with Norman Powell, he just has a bigger role now.

soilentgleem

6 | 3 hours ago

Why wasn’t he in this role last year in Minnesota then? Kinda seems like a perfect guard pairing for Ant and everything I understood that team needed.

Odoaiden | Timberwolves

0 | 3 hours ago

Is NAW a good playmaker because he was atrocious at that for us but yes Finch minimizes players potential it’s what he does and NAW clearly refined his game a lot in the offseason.

DaOlWuWopte | ATL

1 | an hour ago

hes playmaking really well in crunch time

NAW_MIP_2026 | Hawks

0 | 3 hours ago

They literally traded for Donte Divincenzo to fill the “high 3pt volume combo guard” role and Nickeil is now doing it significantly better than him, it’s not like they didn’t have the shots to give him. And if you asked any twolves fan if there was something they don’t like about Nickeil, it was “he has a tendency to highjack the offence and he’s not capable of filling that role”. Doesn’t sound like a guy to score 20 points in 40+ games per season to me.

SlowBurnerAccnt

6 | 3 hours ago

Always is a stretch cuz before he made the pivot to a legit 3&D guy he def tried to get his shit off to less than ideal results but the blueprint always been there.

SnooChipmunks469 | Knicks

3 | 3 hours ago

I remember watching him on the Pelicans and thinking this guy is going to be an end of bencher. I didn’t think there was any way he could even be good.

NAW_MIP_2026 | Hawks

2 | 3 hours ago

Twolves fans frequently said that this guy had a tendency to take over the offence and said he wasn’t good enough for that type of role, he definitely wasn’t always this guy.

NAW_MIP_2026 | Hawks

1 | 3 hours ago

Lmao twolves would’ve kept him if he was always this type of player, they literally traded for Divincenzo because they wanted a high volume shooter/combo guard next to Ant. The number one complaint I heard from twolves fans when we signed him was that he had a tendency to take over the offence and he’s wasn’t good enough to do that.

In his last 6 seasons in the NBA, Nickeil Alexander-Walker has had at most 5 20-point games in a season. This season, NAW has 42 20-point games.