RJ Barrett Snubbed From All-Rookie Selection

Selected by the media, the NBA announced on Monday the 2019-20 All-Rookie teams.

A top-three pick of the 2019 NBA Draft was left out of the top 10 rookies.

First Team:

Ja Morant, Memphis Grizzlies
Kendrick Nunn, Miami Heat
Brandon Clarke, Memphis Grizzlies
Zion Williamson, New Orleans Pelicans
Eric Paschall, Golden State Warriors

Second Team:

Tyler Herro, Miami Heat
Terence Davis, Toronto Raptors
Coby White, Chicago Bulls
P.J. Washington, Jr., Charlotte Hornets
Rui Hachimura, Washington Wizards.

Bold – unanimous

The NBA Media has done it now.

R.J. Barrett, the third overall pick, who ranked in the top five in several categories as a rookie was not selected for either All-Rookie teams.

As a matter of fact, he wasn’t even close to a selection, according to the media. He was 13 points from the final spot, taken by Hachimura.

In the All-Rookie voting (by media), RJ Barrett not only didn’t make either team, he didn’t come close (13 points). He was the No. 3 pick in the draft, but poor shooting numbers and #Knicks losing record cost him recognition. Kid is already an intense player. Motivation? pic.twitter.com/0ZyD6F9nzX
— Alan Hahn (@alanhahn) September 16, 2020

Barrett finished in the five among rookies in the following categories:

Minutes per game: 30.4
Points per game: 14.3
Rebounds per game (at least two games played): 5.0
Total points: 803
Total assists: 143
Total rebounds: 279
Free throws: 156
Free throws attempted: 254
Field goal attempts: 727
He also finished in the top ten in the following categories:
Minutes played: 1704
Field goals: 292
Total steals: 55
Assists per game: 2.6

Now, there is no shadow of a doubt that Morant and Williamson were going to get these accolades. Morant, the Rookie of the Year, had one of the best rookie campaigns that I’ve seen in quite some time and Williamson is simply out of his world when he’s healthy. Nunn is another player who had a great and surprising first year.

Here are the season averages for the other seven players selected over Barrett.

Barrett: 14.3 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 2.6 APG

Paschall: 14.0 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 2.1 APG

Clarke: 12.1 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 1.4 APG

Herro: 13.5 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 2.2 APG

White: 13.2 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 2.7 APG

Washington, Jr.: 12.2 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 2.1 APG

Hachimura: 13.5 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 1.8 APG

But my favorite…

Davis: 7.5 PPG, 3.3 APG, 1.6 APG

Terence Davis with those numbers was selected to an All-Rookie team over RJ Barrett, who quite literally had a much better year than him. I do not want to hear anything about “Well, the Raptors are a much better team than the Knicks.” Barrett made a much bigger impact than Terence Davis, who managed to play only 16.8 MPG.

Terence Davis wasn’t even selected for the 2020 Rising Stars Game during All-Star Weekend and he got selected over the guy who led that game in points? Who cares if it was an exhibition?

I do not want to hear “the Raptors are a playoff team.”

The Raptors were a playoff team because of Kyle Lowry, Pascal Siakam, and Fred VanVleet.

The only rookies who REALLY helped their team out in getting to the playoffs were Herro and Nunn. Those two were a huge help to Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo. Davis was not a help to Lowry, Siakam, and VanVleet like Herro and Nunn.

The NBA media members simply fumbled and choked this as bad as the Los Angeles Clippers. It is disrespectful and embarrassing. Like Alan Hahn on MSG Networks said in the tweet above, Barrett plays with so much intensity.