Jalen Green named first team All-Rookie

The Houston Rockets and their star youngster got some good news tonight, as Jalen Green was named to first-team All-Rookie, according to Shams Charania.

Green joins Scottie Barnes, Evan Mobley, Cade Cunningham, and Franz Wagner on the first team, though there are some out there who feel Josh Giddey may have deserved it more over Green. I am not one of those people.

Giddey had a good year, averaging 12.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 6.4 assists per game, though he played in just 54 games due to injury and shot just 26.3 percent from three on the year.

Green had a slow start to the year but closed the season extremely strong. In fact, he had eight 30-point games over the season’s last month and finished his rookie year averaging 17.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game on 42.6 percent from the field and 34.3 percent from deep. He played in 67 games and was the best rookie in the league by the end of the year.

There’s also some out there who feel Herb Jones did enough on defense to make the first team, but he averaged just 9.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.1 assists, though he did pitch in 1.7 steals. Good year, but second team is where he belongs.

Green became the 12th Rocket to make an All-Rookie squad, joining Steve Francis, Elvin Hayes, John Lucas, Joe Meriweather, Yao Ming, Calvin Murphy, Hakeem Olajuwon, Ralph Sampson, Luis Scola, and Jae’Sean Tate.

Congrats to Jalen Green!