2021-22 NBA Awards Media Poll: All-Rookie Teams
Over the last few weeks, the NBA awards and honors have been a hot topic of discussion around the NBA world.
The three finalists for each award were announced on Sunday, but SI Fastbreak has collected data from NBA media members around the country covering both the league at-large and individual teams.
These media members were asked to vote on their selections for each NBA All-Rookie team this season with the voting process working as follows:
- 2 points for every First Team vote
- 1 points for every Second Team vote
Here is SI Fastbreak’s official voting results for the 2021-22 NBA All-Rookie Teams:
NBA All-Rookie First Team:
Official results from SI Fastbreak NBA Media Awards Polling 2021-22 - All-Rookie First Team
Cade Cunningham (Detroit Pistons), Scottie Barnes (Toronto Raptors), Evan Mobley (Cleveland Cavaliers), Franz Wagner (Orlando Magic), Jalen Green (Houston Rockets)
This year’s rookie class was filled with high-level talents and the three finalists for Rookie of the Year in Cade Cunningham, Scottie Barnes and Evan Mobley were all unanimous selections to the All-Rookie First Team in the voting seen above.
Finishing the year leading all rookies in scoring, Cunningham emerged as the young leader of the Detroit Pistons and showed his All-Star potential even though he only played in 64 games.
Scottie Barnes helped lead the Toronto Raptors to the 5-seed in the Eastern Conference and was a “jack of all trades” for them. From being a hard-nosed defender to being a factor facilitating from the wing offensively, Barnes has proven to be a very versatile young forward in this league.
Evan Mobley quickly emerged as one of the better big men in the league this year not only because of his length, but because of how well he fit in next to Jarrett Allen in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ frontcourt. The young big man finished the year leading all rookies in rebounds per game, total rebounds and blocks.
Franz Wagner from the Orlando Magic and Jalen Green from the Houston Rockets rounded out the five rookies selected to the All-Rookie First Team in the voting process.
In Orlando, Wagner averaged 15.2 points, 4.5 rebounds and shot 46.8% from the floor, proving to be a key offensive weapon for the Magic to utilize moving forward.
As for Jalen Green, he struggled to find his footing in the league early on, but he was one of the hottest players in the league when the regular season concluded.
From the All-Star Break to the end of the season, Green averaged 22.1 points and shot 47.6% from the floor while scoring at least 30 points in six of his final seven games.
NBA All-Rookie Second Team:
Official results from SI Fastbreak NBA Media Awards Polling 2021-22 - All-Rookie Second Team
Herbert Jones (New Orleans Pelicans), Josh Giddey (Oklahoma City Thunder), Ayo Dosunmu (Chicago Bulls), Bones Hyland (Denver Nuggets), Chris Duarte (Indiana Pacers)
Herbert Jones came close to being selected to the All-Rookie First Team, but he finished just two points behind Jalen Green for the final spot, thus leading him to being the first player on the All-Rookie Second Team.
Emerging as the best rookie defender this year, Herb Jones has continued to be a factor for the New Orleans Pelicans in their first-round playoff series against the Phoenix Suns.
Josh Giddey’s season with the Oklahoma City Thunder was cut short due to a hip injury, but Giddey proved to be a very versatile player that could do a little bit of everything. This season, Giddey joined Luka Doncic as the only other teenager in NBA history to record a triple-double and he became the youngest player in NBA history to record multiple triple-doubles.
Ayo Dosunmu was not expected to see a huge role with the Chicago Bulls this season, but with Coby White, Alex Causo and others dealing with injuries, Dosunmu stepped up into a huge role for the Bulls and was a key facilitator and scorer for them at the point guard position.
The same can be said for Denver Nuggets’ rookie Bones Hyland, who stepped into a much bigger role during the second-half of the season for his team. After the All-Star Break, Hyland averaged 12.8 points and shot 40% from three-point range.
Rounding out the final spot in the All-Rookie voting was Indiana Pacers’ rookie Chris Duarte, who started out very hot and seemed to slow down during the second-half of the year due to injuries.
Official results from SI Fastbreak NBA Media Awards Polling 2021-22 - All-Rookie Others Receiving Votes
Alperen Sengun (Houston Rockets), Davion Mitchell (Sacramento Kings), Jonathan Kuminga (Golden State Warriors) and Jalen Suggs (Orlando Magic) also received at least one vote for All-Rookie consideration this season, but did not receive enough votes and points to make it on one of the two teams.
