With the 2021-22 regular season now wrapped up, several members of the media have started to reveal their official ballots for the end-of-season awards voting.
A panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters are responsible for casting ballots for Most Valuable Player, Defensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year and several other categories. Included in the voting are the All-Rookie teams, which are voted on without consideration for positions.
Zach Lowe of ESPN, who is a voter, revealed his official ballot on Thursday with the three likely Rookie of the Year front-runners leading way in Cade Cunningham, Evan Mobley and Scottie Barnes.
2021-22 NBA All-Rookie first team
| Player | Team |
| Cade Cunningham | Detroit Pistons |
| Evan Mobley | Cleveland Cavaliers |
| Scottie Barnes | Toronto Raptors |
| Franz Wagner | Orlando Magic |
| Herb Jones | New Orleans Pelicans |
Currently, four of the five first-team players appear to be locked in on most ballots with Cunningham, Mobley, Barnes and Wagner. Lowe revealed the only decision to make came down to the fifth pick and it was between Jones and Jalen Green of the Houston Rockets.
He ultimately went with Jones with Green falling to the second team.
2021-22 NBA All-Rookie second team
| Player | Team |
| Jalen Green | Houston Rockets |
| Alperen Sengun | Houston Rockets |
| Bones Hyland | Denver Nuggets |
| Ayo Dosunmu | Chicago Bulls |
| Josh Giddey | Oklahoma City Thunder |
Lowe explained that Giddey would have made the first team but ultimately dropped to the second team due to the number of games he missed. He appeared in only 54 games and played in only one game after the All-Star break due to a hip injury.
Said Lowe:
The only drama on first team was the final spot, which came down to Jones and Green. Had Giddey played more games, that spot was his.
With such a good rookie class this year, there were plenty of candidates to choose from for the 10 spots across the two teams. Of course, there are going to be plenty of snubs from the All-Rookie teams and some solid players are going to be left off.
The voting for Rookie of the Year and the All-Rookie teams will certainly be worth monitoring when the results are released by the NBA. The two categories look to be among the most competitive this year, which left voters with something serious to consider.
This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
[lawrence-related id=74895,74757,73379]
[mm-video type=video id=01g0jbtvr0vdqhf34ark playlist_id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01f1jxkahtwnvzepyp image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01g0jbtvr0vdqhf34ark/01g0jbtvr0vdqhf34ark-30f15e275494b9af4983425fe216cd0a.jpg]
[listicle id=74838]