Ben Simmons of the Philadelphia 76ers and Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz were unanimously named to the All-Rookie first team, the NBA announced Tuesday.
Mitchell and Simmons each received 100 out of a maximum 100 votes for first team and no votes for second team. Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics received 99 first-team votes, Kyle Kuzma of the Los Angeles got 93, and Lauri Markkanen of the Chicago Bulls came away with 76.
The NBA announced that #Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell and #Sixers’ Ben Simmons were unanimously selected to the 2017-18 NBA All-Rookie First Team. The First Team also features #Celtics’ Jayson Tatum, #Lakers' Kyle Kuzma and #Bulls Lauri Markkanen. pic.twitter.com/WZMmUdzoL2
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) May 22, 2018
The first team All-Rookie team is voted on by a select number of NBA media members. So that group that covers the NBA on a regular basis felt it appropriate to that Simmons and Mitchell be on the first team. And they were absolutely right.
Mitchell proved the entire season why he is deserving of this accolade. He averaged 20.5 points and 3.7 assists and rebounds in 79 games as a rookie. Although he had an incredible run in the playoffs as well, this award is for the regular season only.
Ben Simmons was no slouch either. He averaged 15.8 points, 8.2 assists and 8.1 rebounds this year, drawing several comparisons to LeBron James in the process (no pun intended). Technically, it's Simmons' second year in the league, but we'll just leave that one alone for now.
Tatum and Kuzma making the first team is also a no-brainer. Kuzma was practically the leading scorer for the Lakers the entire season, and he outperformed everyone's expectations after getting picked at No. 27 in the draft. Tatum is very good and was a lottery pick, so no surprise there.
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