Ben Simmons unanimously named to All-Rookie First Team

By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor  

Last week, we learned that Ben Simmons was one of three nominees for NBA Rookie of the Year alongside Utah's Donovan Mitchell and Boston's Jayson Tatum. On Tuesday, the NBA released its All-Rookie Teams. Both Simmons and Mitchell were unanimous choices for the first team while Jayson Tatum received 199 out of 200 first place votes.

Donovan Mitchell and Ben Simmons unanimously headline 2017-18 NBA All-Rookie First Team! pic.twitter.com/XNmLHgEqiU

— NBA Draft (@NBADraft) May 22, 2018

Ben Simmons and Donovan Mitchell were the talk of the rookie class this season with both contributing a large part to their respective team's success.

Simmons was relied on to facilitate and he did so by averaging 8.2 assists per game to go along with 15.8 points and 8.1 rebounds. He was a steady leader all season long at the point for Philadelphia and the former LSU product tallied 38 double-doubles and 12 triple-doubles in his first NBA season on the court, breaking rookie records set by Oscar Robertson and Magic Johnson. Simmons is the 15th player in Sixers franchise history to earn All Rookie First-Team honors.

Meanwhile, Mitchell was relied on by the Jazz to be a scorer, and that's exactly what he did. Out of the No. 13 spot in the draft, Mitchell was one of the year's best stories as the 21-year-old averaged 20.5 points on 43.7 percent shooting in the regular season and 24.4 points per game during Utah's playoff run into the Western Conference Semifinals. 

Simmons and Mitchell are the two favorites for Rookie of the Year and the winner will be revealed during the 2018 NBA Awards in Los Angeles on June 25.