It was an interesting year for rookies. Damian Lillard stood out as the point guard Portland needed, but he had the advantage of talent around him that other promising players (Anthony Davis, Andre Drummond) did not. Then there were good young players like Jonas Valanciunas flying under the radar in Toronto.
So picking the NBA All-Rookie Teams was not going to be that simple for the coaches… and they did a pretty good job. There are no horrific errors. We could quibble about the bottom of the second team, that the coaches seemed to feel the need to vote by position, but it’s not terrible.
Here are the guys that made the All-Rookie squad (remember that unlike the other All-NBA teams, positions are not accounted for with the rookies).
FIRST TEAM:
Damian Lillard (Portland)
Bradley Beal (Washington)
Anthony Davis (New Orleans)
Dion Waiters (Cleveland)
Harrison Barnes (Golden State)
SECOND TEAM
Andre Drummond (Detroit)
Jonas Valanciunas (Toronto)
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (Charlotte)
Kyle Singler (Detroit)
Tyler Zeller (Cleveland)
Other players receiving votes, with point totals:
Maurice Harkless, Orlando, 14; Alexey Shved, Minnesota, 14; Chris Copeland, New York, 9; Brian Roberts, New Orleans, 5; Andrew Nicholson, Orlando, 4; Jae Crowder, Dallas, 1; Festus Ezeli, Golden State, 1; Draymond Green, Golden State, 1; John Jenkins, Atlanta, 1; Terrence Jones, Houston, 1; Pablo Prigioni, New York, 1; Terrence Ross, Toronto, 1; Jeff Taylor, Charlotte, 1.
Somebody must love Jenkins, he got one Rookie of the Year vote and one for this. Personally, I’d have Shved, Copeland and most certainly Nicholson ahead of Zeller. And frankly likely Singler, too.
Top draft picks not to make this list: Thomas Robinson (the No. 5 pick who showed some promise late in the season and deserved a vote more than a few of these guys), Toronto’s Terrance Ross got one vote, and No. 10 draft pick Austin Rivers got none (and deserved none).