Cade Cunningham, Scottie Barnes Headline 2022 NBA All-Rookie Teams
The NBA's youngest stars were given the spotlight on Wednesday.
Prior to Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals between the Dallas Mavericks and Golden State Warriors, the league revealed the 2021-22 All-Rookie teams. Rookie of the Year winner Scottie Barnes headlined the first team along with ROY finalists Cade Cunningham and Evan Mobley.
They were joined by Jalen Green and Franz Wagner. The All-Rookie second team was headlined by Josh Giddey and Chris Duarte.
Barnes, Mobley and Cunningham had a tightly contested race for the ROY award. Barnes garnered 48 first-place votes to Mobley's 43 and Cunningham's nine. The three of them each made their presence felt immediately for their respective teams.
While starring for the Toronto Raptors, Barnes established himself as an all-around player who stuffs the stat sheet and produces on both ends of the floor. The 20-year-old led all rookies with 35.4 minutes per game and he averaged 15.3 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.7 blocks.
Barnes started all 74 games he appeared in this season and he became the first rookie in Raptors history to record at least 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 250 assists.
Mobley averaged 15.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.7 blocks for the Cleveland Cavaliers. The 20-year-old big man anchored a sharp defensive turnaround that saw Cleveland rank fifth in the NBA by holding opponents to 105.7 points per game.
The No. 1 overall pick in 2021 by the Detroit Pistons, Cunningham mostly lived up to the hype. He averaged 17.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.2 steals. However, Detroit remained one of the bottom teams in the league with a 23-59 record.
Green was selected right after Cunningham, but it took him a while to find his footing during the season for the Houston Rockets. He finished with an average of 17.3 points, but he ended the year with 30-plus points in six of his last seven appearances, including a 41-point performance in the regular-season finale against the Atlanta Hawks.
Giddey initially looked like a lock for the All-Rookie first team, as he quickly emerged as a star for the Oklahoma City Thunder through the first half of the year. But Giddey was slowed by a hip injury that limited him to just one game after the All-Star break. In 54 appearances, he averaged 12.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 6.4 assists.
Duarte also had a strong start to the season for the Indiana Pacers before his production tapered off. He averaged 17.7 points for the month of October but finished the year at 13.1 points per game in 55 appearances.
