Nerlens Noel Named NBA All Rookie First Team

The Philadelphia 76ers today announced that Nerlens Noel was named to the 2014-15 NBA All-Rookie First Team as voted on by a panel of 130 sportswriters and broadcasters who were asked to select five players for the first team and five players for the second team, regardless of position. Noel is the 11th player in franchise history to earn All-Rookie First Team honors.

In 75 games with 71 starts this season, Noel averaged 9.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.77 steals and 1.89 blocks. The last player to post those averages in a single season while playing at least 50 games was Hakeem Olajuwon in 1994-95. Over his final 22 games played, Noel averaged 13.3 points, 10.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 2.18 steals and 1.95 blocks.

Noel, who turned 21 years old last month, led all rookies in rebounding, steals, blocks and double-doubles (18). In addition to being the only player to rank top-10 in both steals and blocks this past season, Noel joined David Robinson as the only rookies in NBA history to have averaged at least 1.50 steals and 1.50 blocks.

Rounding out the rest of the All-Rookie First Team selections are Minnesota’s Andrew Wiggins, Chicago’s Nikola Mirotic, Orlando’s Elfrid Payton and the L.A. Lakers Jordan Clarkson. Boston’s Marcus Smart, Minnesota’s Zach LaVine, Brooklyn’s Bojan Bogdanovic, Denver’s Jusuf Nurkic and New York’s Langston Galloway comprise the All-Rookie Second Team.

Sixer rookies Jerami Grant and JaKarr Sampson also received votes for All-Rookie Second Team.

Grant was the 39th overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft and appeared in 65 games with 11 starts. He ranked third among rookies in blocks with 1.05 bpg and hit 49 3-pointers after shooting 6-of-20 from behind-the-arc in two seasons at Syracuse.

Sampson was not selected in the 2014 NBA Draft following his sophomore season at St. John’s. He appeared in 74 games with 32 starts for the Sixers this season while hitting 31 3-pointers after shooting just 1-of-13 from behind-the-arc for his collegiate career.