Nickeil Alexander-Walker becomes first Pelican to enter protocols

Third-year guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols, becoming the first Pelicans player to do so this season, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).

Assuming Alexander-Walker registered a confirmed positive COVID-19 test, he’ll remain in the protocols for 10 days or until he can return two consecutive negative tests at least 24 hours apart.

Alexander-Walker has struggled with his shot this season, making just 37.2% of his attempts from the floor (including 31.9% of his threes) through 32 games. However, the 23-year-old is coming off perhaps his best game of the season, so the timing of his entry into the protocols is unfortunate — he scored 27 points in 26 minutes on 10-of-16 shooting on Tuesday in a win over Portland.

New Orleans had been just one of eight teams without a player in the protocols. The Rockets, Pacers, Thunder, Suns, Trail Blazers, Spurs and Jazz make up the rest of that group.

Several times this month, we’ve seen one positive test lead to a flurry of additional positives, so it’s possible Alexander-Walker won’t be the last Pelican to be affected — hopefully the team can avoid an outbreak.