One rookie honor in the books for Trae Young.
The Hawks point guard was a unanimous selection to the NBA All-Rookie first team, the league announced Tuesday. Young was named one of three finalists for Rookie of the Year last week. That award will be announced June 24.
Young received first-team votes from all 100 media voters for 200 points. He was joined on the first team by the Mavericks’ Luka Doncic (200 points, 100 first-team votes), also a unanimous selection, the Suns’ Deandre Ayton (195, 95), the Grizzlies’ Jaren Jackson (159, 60) and the Kings’ Marvin Bagley (156, 56).
The Hawks’ Kevin Huerter was named to the All-Rookie second team. Huerter finished with 45 points, including one first-team vote and 43 second-team votes. He was joined by the Clippers’ Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (138 points), the Cavaliers’ Collin Sexton (133) from Pebblebrook High, the Clippers’ Landry Shamet (85) and the Knicks’ Mitchell Robinson (77).
It’s the second consecutive year that the Hawks have had an All-Rookie player with John Collins being honored on the second team last season.
This year’s first team consists of the top five picks in 2018 draft with Ayton (No. 1), Bagley (No. 2), Doncic (No. 3), Jackson (No. 4) and Young (No. 5). It is the first time since the 1984-85 season that the top five picks in the previous draft were named to the first team, with Hakeem Olajuwon (No. 1), Sam Bowie (No. 2), Michael Jordan (No. 3), Sam Perkins (No. 4) and Charles Barkley (No. 5).
Young appeared in 81 games this season, sitting just one game for rest. He finished with averages of 19.1 points, 8.1 assists and 3.7 rebounds in 30.9 minutes. Young led all rookies in total points (1,549) and assists (653), the first rookie to do so since Michael Carter-Williams in his Rookie of the Year season of 2013-14. His assist total is tied for ninth all-time for a first-year player.
Young was first in the Eastern Conference in total assists and fourth in the NBA in assists per game, trailing only Russell Westbrook, Kyle Lowry and Chris Paul. He became the first rookie to lead his conference in total assists since Damon Stoudamire did it in 1995-96.
Young shot .418 from the field, including .324 from 3-point range.
Young recorded 30 double-doubles and 18 20-point/10-assist games this season, which led the Eastern Conference and trailed only Westbrook and James Harden.
Among all-time Atlanta-era Hawks rookies, Young ranks first in assists, first in 3-pointers made (156), second in points and fourth in field goals made (525). He was second in games played after the one-game rest behind Dominique Wilkins and Stacey Augmon, who played entire seasons.
Young was named the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month in November, January, February and March/April, the first Hawks rookie to ever receive the award four times. He was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week on March 24 after averaging 25.3 points and 11.3 assists in three games, compiling three consecutive 20-point/10-assist games. He was the only rookie this season to earn the league’s weekly player honor.
Huerter became a starter midway through last season. In 75 games, including 59 starts, he averaged 9.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 27.3 minutes. He shot .419 from the field and .385 from 3-point range. He is second in Hawks rookie history in 3-pointers made (136) and tied for fifth in starts. He was second among all rookies (to Young’s seven), to record six games with five-or-more triples. His 136 3-pointers are the sixth-most in league history by a rookie age 20 or younger.
“We are looking to build on how we ended the season last season,” Huerter said earlier this month from the draft lottery. “From mid-year to the end of the year, the offense really picked up. We started to gel a little better as a team. I think there is a lot of excitement within the organization and outside the organization with Atlanta.”
The all-rookie teams were selected by a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. The media voted for five players for the first team and five players for the second team at any position. Players received two points for each first-team vote and one point for each second-team vote. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution does not vote on postseason awards as a matter of newspaper policy.
Players with local ties included among those rookies who received votes were Josh Okogie (Georgia Tech) with 12 points, including one first-team vote, and Wendell Carter Jr. (Pace Academy) with seven points.
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