Wolves' Wiggins named to All-Rookie first team, LaVine on second team
The NBA's premier first-year player was unsurprisingly voted to the All-Rookie team on Monday, and his Timberwolves teammate was selected to the second team, making Minnesota the only club with two All-Rookie players.
Andrew Wiggins, the league's rookie of the year, was the only unanimous choice, receiving 130 first-team votes. Fellow high-flyer Zach LaVine was named to the second-team, announced Monday by the NBA.
Wiggins, the athletically gifted swingman who was chosen first overall by Cleveland and traded to Minnesota in the Kevin Love deal, led all qualified rookies in scoring (16.9 points per game) in 2014-15. He ranked fourth in steals (1.1 per game) and fifth in rebounding (4.6). He was the only rookie to start all 82 games this season, a feat accomplished by just 11 players in the league.
The NBA's rookie of the month four times, Wiggins had a robust finish to the season, averaging 23.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists in April.
LaVine, drafted 13th overall by the Timberwolves, averaged 10.1 points, 2.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 77 games, which included 40 starts. He finished fourth among rookies in scoring, second in assists and first in free-throw accuracy (84.2 percent). On April 11, he set the Timberwolves' single-game scoring record for rookies when he poured in 37 points against Golden State.
During All-Star Weekend, LaVine scored a game-high 22 points in the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge and was crowned champion of the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest.
Wiggins became the eighth Timberwolves player to be named to the All-Rookie first team, while LaVine was the ninth player voted to the second team.
Wolves in summer league: For the fourth year in a row, the Timberwolves will participate in the Samsung NBA Summer League. The event will be held July 10-20 in Las Vegas.
Follow James Carlton on Twitter
