Ben Simmons and Utah Jazz shooting guard Donovan Mitchell were unanimous selections for the NBA all-rookie first team, announced Tuesday.
This comes as no surprise. The 76ers point guard, Mitchell and Boston Celtics small forward Jayson Tatum are the finalists for rookie of the year.
The votes for both regular-season awards were submitted by the media in April. The rookie-of-the year finalists are the top three vote-getters for the first team. The rookie of the year will be announced at the NBA awards show in Santa Monica, Calif., on June 25.
Simmons and Mitchell both received perfect scores of 200 by getting 100 first-place votes in all-rookie first-team voting. Tatum, forward Kyle Kuzma of the Los Angeles Lakers, and Lauri Markkanen of the Chicago Bulls join them on the first team.
Tatum just missed out on being a unanimous selection, finishing with 99 first-place votes and one second-place selection for 199 points. Kuzma received 193 points (93 first-place votes, seven seconds), and Markkanen had 173 points (76, 21).
Dallas point guard Dennis Smith (96 points), Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball (87), Atlanta Hawks post player John Collins (76), Sacramento guard Bogdan Bogdanovic (75) and Phoenix forward Josh Jackson (45) garnered second-team selections.
Simmons becomes the 15th player in Sixers history to earn first-team all-rookie honors. He's also the sixth Sixer in five years to become a first-teamer, joining Joel Embiid (2016-17), Dario Saric (2016-17), Jahlil Okafor (2015-16), Nerlens Noel (2014-15) and Michael Carter-Williams (2013-14).
Simmons averaged 15.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 8.2 assists this season. He had 12 triple-doubles in the regular season.
