Official 2020-21 NBA All-Rookie teams announced

Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball and Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards have been unanimously selected to the 2020-21 NBA All-Rookie First Team, the NBA announced today. Ball, the 2020-21 Kia NBA Rookie of the Year, and Edwards received NBA All-Rookie First Team votes on all 99 ballots from a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters.

Joining Ball and Edwards (198 total points each) on the 2020-21 NBA All-Rookie First Team are Sacramento Kings guard Tyrese Haliburton (197 points; 98 First Team votes), Detroit Pistons forward Saddiq Bey (162 points; 63 First Team votes) and Houston Rockets forward Jae’Sean Tate (154 points; 57 First Team votes).

Ball led first-year NBA players in assists (6.1 apg) and steals (1.59 spg) and ranked second in scoring (15.7 ppg) and rebounding (5.9 rpg). He won the first three Kia NBA Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month awards. Edwards, the first overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, averaged a rookie-high 19.3 points per game. He was named the Kia NBA Western Conference Rookie of the Month in each of the final three months of the season.

Haliburton, who won the first two Kia NBA Western Conference Rookie of the Month awards, ranked third among rookies in scoring (13.0 ppg) and second in assists (5.3 apg). Bey, the 19th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, made a rookie-leading 175 three-pointers and was named the NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week for Week 8. Tate, who was not selected in the 2018 NBA Draft, averaged 11.3 points and 5.3 rebounds with the Rockets after playing last season for the Sydney Kings in Australia’s National Basketball League.

The 2020-21 NBA All-Rookie Second Team consists of New York Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley (148 points), Memphis Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane (88), Pistons center Isaiah Stewart (71), Cleveland Cavaliers guard-forward Isaac Okoro (53) and Chicago Bulls forward Patrick Williams (50).

The media voting panel selected five players for the NBA All-Rookie First Team and five players for the NBA All-Rookie Second Team at any position. Players received two points for each First Team vote and one point for each Second Team vote.

Pistons rookie Saddiq Bey showing development

Pistons rookie Saddiq Bey is turning some heads, for good reasons. Via the Detroit Free Press:

Parts of his 28-point, 12-rebound performance against the Toronto Raptors was routine — or as routine as something can be for a first-year player. Bey hit six of his 10 3-point attempts, the third time this season he has made at least six. He entered the NBA with a reputation as a 3-point marksman, and that has been his best skill so far…

At 6 feet 8 and 215 pounds, he has the size and strength to body defenders while driving to the rim. He has been doing a better job of using his physical gifts to his advantage.

In 23.7 minutes per game, Bey is averaging 10.5 points and 4.1 rebounds per game.

The Pistons are 11-29 this season, which is the worst record in the Eastern conference. Other than Jerami Grant at 23.4 points per game, nobody on the roster is scoring even as much as 15 ppg. It’s a complete rebuild in Detroit, with Grant as the cornerstone.

Saddiq Bey, Devin Booker named NBA Players of Week

The NBA announced today that Detroit Pistons forward Saddiq Bey has been named Eastern Conference Player of the Week and Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booked named Western Conference Player of the Week for games played between February 8-14, 2021.

Bey is the second Pistons rookie to ever win the award, joining Kelly Tripucka (March 14, 1982) as the only first-year Pistons to earn NBA Player of the Week honors.

Bey helped lead the Pistons to a 3-1 week by averaging 17.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 0.8 steals in 26.1 minutes per contest. Bey shot .714 (25-of-35) from the field and .696 (16-of-23) from 3-point range during the four-game stretch while scoring in double figures in each contest. He became the only rookie in team history with at least four 3-pointers made in back-to-back games (Feb. 12-14).

Bey set a Pistons rookie record with seven 3-pointers made and recorded career highs of 30 points (10-12 FG, 7-7 3FG) and 12 rebounds in a win at Boston on Feb. 12. Bey became the only rookie in NBA history to make seven triples in a game without a miss from 3-point range and became the fourth rookie in NBA history with at least 30 points and seven 3-pointers made in a double-double (Jason Kidd, Stephen Curry, Lauri Markkanen). He also became the fourth Pistons rookie to score at least 30 points in game over the last 35 seasons (Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Grant Hill, Allan Houston).

The Villanova standout holds the Pistons rookie record for most 3-pointers made (49) through 25 career games and is shooting .422 from distance on the year, currently setting the highest 3-point percentage for any Pistons rookie among qualified players in team history.

Phoenix’s Devin Booker was named the Western Conference Player of the Week. Per NBA.com/suns, “Booker averaged 32.3 points on 56.3% shooting from the field and 47.6% from three-point range, plus 5.3 assists and 5.0 rebounds in four games, helping the Suns extend their winning streak to six straight overall including wins over the Eastern Conference’s top two teams in Philadelphia and Milwaukee. Booker scored at least 27 points on over 50% from the field in all four games during the week, twice scoring his season high of 36 points.”

More from NBA.com/suns: “This marks Booker’s first career NBA Player of the Week honor and he is the first Suns player to be named Player of the Week since Goran Dragić on Feb. 3, 2014.”

Pistons rookie Saddiq Bey worth keeping an eye on

Pistons rookie Saddiq Bey is worth keeping an eye on. Via the Detroit News:

In the final minutes of Friday’s surprising win over the Phoenix Suns, the Pistons went with a different look to the lineup. Instead of one of their regular lineups, they used rookie Saddiq Bey as the shooting guard, to go along with the starting frontcourt.

Bey isn’t quite a typical shooting guard but when it came down to crunch time, coach Dwane Casey went with the players he trusted.

“I was just looking for hard-playing guys who have attention to detail in the zone and Saddiq was one of them,” Casey said…

In his last eight games, which includes three starts, Bey is posting 11.9 points, 5 rebounds and is shooting 46% on 3-pointers, with 6.3 attempts per game. More impressively, he’s scratching out significant playing time, with 25.5 minutes, playing primarily with the second group, but then getting a look to finish games.

The Pistons are just 2-8 so far this season, and being led in scoring by Jerami Grant at 25.1 points per game, Derrick Rose and Blake Griffin each at 13.9 PPG, Josh Jackson at 12.5 PPG, and Bey at 10.6 PPG.

Three-team NBA trade sends Landry Shamet and Bruce Brown to Nets, Luke Kennard to Clippers, Saddiq Bey to Pistons

The Brooklyn Nets have acquired guard Landry Shamet and the draft rights to forward Reggie Perry, the 57th overall pick in the second round of the 2020 NBA Draft, from the Los Angeles Clippers and guard Bruce Brown from the Detroit Pistons in a three-team trade.

The Nets traded the draft rights to Saddiq Bey, the 19th overall pick in the first round of the 2020 NBA Draft, guard Dzanan Musa, the draft rights to guard Jaylen Hands and Toronto’s 2021 second round draft pick to Detroit, and the draft rights to guard/forward Jay Scrubb, the 55th overall pick in the second round of the 2020 NBA Draft, to the Clippers.

To complete the deal, the Pistons traded forward Luke Kennard, center Justin Patton, Portland’s 2023 second round draft pick and Detroit’s second round draft picks in 2024, 2025 and 2026 to the Clippers. And the Clippers dealt guard Rodney McGruder and cash considerations to the Pistons.

Shamet (6’4”, 190) has appeared in 132 games (57 starts) across two seasons with Philadelphia (2018-19) and the Clippers (2019-20), recording averages of 9.2 points on 42.0 percent shooting from the field and 40.2 percent from 3-point range, 1.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 24.7 minutes per game. In the 2019-20 season, the Kansas City, Mo., native saw action in 53 games (30 starts), averaging 9.3 points on 40.4 percent shooting from the field and 37.5 percent from 3-point range, 1.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 27.4 minutes per contest. As a rookie, Shamet split the season between the Sixers and Clippers, registering averages of 9.1 points on 43.1 percent shooting from the field and 42.2 percent from distance, 1.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 22.8 minutes per game in 79 games (27 starts) en route to NBA All-Rookie Second Team honors. Shamet was originally selected with the 26th overall pick in the first round of the 2018 NBA Draft by Philadelphia after spending three years (2015-18) at Wichita State, where he earned All-Missouri Valley Conference First Team honors in 2017, All-American Athletic Conference First Team honors in 2018 and honorable mention All-America honors from the Associated Press in 2018.

Brown (6’4”, 202) has seen action in 132 games (99 starts) in the past two seasons with the Pistons, registering averages of 6.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 23.4 minutes per game. As a rookie in the 2018-19 season, Brown registered averages of 4.3 points on 39.8 percent shooting from the field and 25.8 percent from 3-point range, 2.5 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 19.6 minutes per game across 74 games (56 starts). In the 2019-20 campaign, Brown appeared in 58 games (43 starts) and improved his statistics across the board, averaging 8.9 points on 44.3 percent shooting from the field and 34.4 percent from 3-point range, 4.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.1 steals in 28.2 minutes per contest. The 24-year-old Boston native was originally selected with the 42nd overall pick in the second round of the 2018 NBA Draft by Detroit after spending two years (2016-18) at the University of Miami.

Perry (6’10”, 250) played two collegiate seasons (2018-20) at Mississippi State, recording averages of 13.4 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 27.3 minutes per contest in 65 games (49 starts). As a sophomore last season, Perry appeared in 31 games (all starts) and averaged 17.4 points, 10.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 31.1 minutes per game en route to earning consensus All-SEC First Team honors from coaches and media and being named the SEC’s Co-Player of the Year by the Associated Press. The Thomasville, Ga., native also earned All-SEC Freshman Team honors for his play during the 2018-19 season, when he averaged 9.7 points and 7.2 rebounds in 23.9 minutes per game in 34 contests (18 starts). In addition to his time with the Bulldogs, Perry competed on USA Basketball’s team in the 2019 FIBA U19 World Cup, where he won a gold medal, was named Most Valuable Player and was selected to the All-Tournament Team.

Musa appeared in 49 games in two seasons with the Nets, posting averages of 4.3 points and 1.9 rebounds in 10.7 minutes per game. In 40 games during the 2019-20 campaign, Musa recorded averages of 4.8 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 12.2 minutes per contest. A native of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Musa was originally selected with the 29th overall pick in the first round of the 2018 NBA Draft by Brooklyn.

Bey, 6-8, 215, was taken with the 19th selection of the 2020 NBA Draft after playing for Villanova for two seasons. Bey finished his sophomore campaign with averages of 16.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 33.9 minutes through 31 games. He shot .477 from the floor and .451 from distance a season ago, marking the fourth-highest 3-point shooting percentage in the nation. Bey finished with a .418 clip from 3-point range for his collegiate career. He was named a 2019-20 Honorable Mention AP All-American and unanimous All-Big East First Team selection. He was a Top-15 finalist for the 2019-20 John Wooden Award and was the winner of the 2019-20 Julius Erving Award, recognizing the nation’s top small forward. The Charlotte, N.C. native was also selected to the 2018-19 Big East All-Freshman team.

Hands, 6-3, 180, played for the Long Island Nets in the NBA G League in 2019-20. He averaged 11.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.0 steals in 22.6 minutes in 41 games. Hands was drafted 56th overall in the 2019 NBA Draft by the L.A. Clippers and played two seasons at UCLA from 2017-19.

McGruder, 6-4, 205, played for the L.A. Clippers in 2019-20 after spending three years with the Miami Heat. McGruder holds career averages of 5.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 218 NBA games (116 starts). The Kansas State product has played in nine NBA Playoff games in two playoff appearances, one with each of his former teams.