Quick takeaways from 2019-20 NBA All-Rookie teams

Here are some rapid-fire takeaways from the 2019-20 NBA All-Rookie teams.

The 2019-20 NBA All-Rookie teams were announced by the league on Tuesday, with some household names leading the charge and some interesting voting trends emerging.

Rookie of the Year winner and Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant led the way with 100 out of 100 first-place votes, giving him the maximum 200 voter points. The Miami Heat’s Kendrick Nunn was right behind him with 98 first-place votes and one second-place vote, good for 197 points.

Another Grizzly, Brandon Clarke, joined the All-Rookie First Team with 189 points, while Duke phenom and New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson followed up with 176 points. Eric Paschall of the Golden State Warriors rounded out the First Team with 116 points.

Tyler Herro (Miami Heat), Terence Davis (Toronto Raptors), Coby White (Chicago Bulls), PJ Washington (Charlotte Hornets) and Rui Hachimura (Washington Wizards) filled out the All-Rookie Second Team. Here’s how the complete voting shook out:

So what are the biggest takeaways from the NBA All-Rookie voting?

Let’s just dive right into the takeways:

1) The Heat and Grizzlies dominated the list. Memphis had two of the top-three vote-getters from this year’s All-Rookie voting, and in all honesty, the Grizz might have boasted the two best rookies in the league this year when one factors in how much time Zion Williamson missed.

Though Nunn’s minutes have taken a severe blow in the postseason, he put up impressive enough regular-season numbers as the Heat’s starting point guard to earn the second-most votes, while Tyler Herro (who is now tearing it up for the Heat’s second unit during their Eastern Conference Finals run) finished just one point behind Paschall for a spot on the First Team.

2) Don’t sleep on Terence Davis. There’s a reason Davis garnered 30 first-place votes, which was more than Herro and Paschall earned, despite the fact that both finished higher in the voting than the Raptors swingman. The only reason he didn’t finish higher is he was completely left off 34 ballots.

3) Teams should do their diligence on undrafted players. Two of the 10 rookies that were selected to this year’s All-Rookie teams went undrafted in the 2019 NBA Draft. That’s an impressive number for any rookie class, let alone one filled with so many promising draft prospects who were able to make an impact right away.

After watching another undrafted rookie like Luguentz Dort thrive in the playoffs, let the Heat, Raptors and Oklahoma City Thunder be a lesson to teams around the league: With the right culture and development system, undrafted prospects can be more than worth the investment.

4) RJ Barrett misses the cut. In terms of snubs, griping over All-Rookie teams is wasted breath, but RJ Barrett and the New York Knicks probably have the biggest complaint. Sure, the Knicks were terrible, but Barrett was a definite bright spot, averaging 14.3 points (fourth among all rookies), 5.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. New York’s misery and his inefficiency (.402/.320/.614 shooting splits) likely cost him an All-Rookie spot.

5) Only 3 votes for Cameron Johnson? And none for Lu Dort? Maybe I’m a bit biased as a Phoenix Suns reporter/ASU Alum, but three Second Team votes for Cam Johnson seems a bit low and zero for Dort feels wrong, even after factoring in that All-Rookie voting did not include seeding games in the bubble.

Johnson came to life in Orlando, averaging 13.3 points and 5.9 rebounds per game on .500/.349/1.000 shooting splits while starting all eight games for an undefeated Suns squad, but he had flashed otherworldly 3-point shooting and surprisingly stout defense all season long.

Dort was an impressive James Harden stopper in the bubble, truly making a name for himself when he went off from 3-point range in OKC’s Game 7 loss, but he had become a starter and designated stopper for the Thunder long before Orlando.

Again, haggling over All-Rookie voting is not worth the energy, but even Pre-Bubble Cam Johnson and Lu Dort deserved more than three lousy votes between the two of them.