Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James was picked by many of the rookies as their favorite player in the league while Stephen Curry of the #Golden State Warriors received no vote during a survey conducted by NBA.com. James received 31.5 percent of the votes from 39 rookies, who answered seven questions about their class as well as current NBA players. Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder came in second with 19.4 percent of the votes while Kawhi Leonard of the San Antonio Spurs was third with 8.3 percent.
James Harden of the Houston Rockets was fourth with 6.5 percent while Warriors teammates Kevin Durant and Draymond Green were tied for fifth with 5.6 percent.
Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans got 4.2 percent while Kyrie Irving received 3.7 percent of the votes. Carmelo Anthony of the New York Knicks, Jamal Crawford of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Pau Gasol of the San Antonio Spurs, Paul George of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers and Dwight Howard of the Charlotte Hornets also received votes. Surprisingly, Curry received no love from the rookies.
Dennis Smith picked by peers as Rookie of the Year
Fellow rookies believe that Dennis Smith of the Dallas Mavericks as the winner of the 2017-18 Rookie of the Year award. Smith, the No. 9 overall pick, received 25.7 percent of the votes from his peers while Lonzo Ball of the Los Angeles Lakers got 20 percent.
Markelle Fultz of the Philadelphia 76ers was third with 17.1 percent. Fultz and Ball were the first two picks in the 2017-18 NBA Draft. Smith averaged 17.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists in six games Las Vegas Summer League but it was Ball who brought home the MVP trophy.
Tied for four with 5.7 percent were Kyle Kuzma of Lakers, Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz and Ben Simmons of the Philadelphia 76ers.
Dwayne Bacon of the Hornets, Tony Bradley of the Jazz, De'Aaron Fox of the Sacramento Kings, Josh Jackson of the Phoenix Suns; Malik Monk of the Hornets, Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics and Sindarius Thornwell of the Clippers also received votes.
Ball will have the best career
In the survey, 18.4 percent of rookies said that Ball and Tatum will have the best career in the NBA.
They were followed by Jackson and Smith, who got 10.5 percent of the votes. Fox got 7.9 percent while Fultz, Harry Giles of the Kings and Simmons got 5.3 percent. Rookies also voted for Jarrett Allen of the Brooklyn Nets, John Collins of the Atlanta Hawks, Jonathan Isaac of the Orlando Magic and Luke Kennard of the Detroit Pistons.
