New Orleans Pelicans forward Herb Jones is a member of the 2021-22 Kia NBA All-Rookie Second Team, and the former Alabama standout nearly landed a spot on the first team.
In voting by a 100-member panel of sportswriters and broadcasters, Jones received 123 points – 32 first-team votes worth two points each and 59 second-team votes worth one point each.
Announced Wednesday night, the first-team All-Rookie included Scottie Barnes of the Toronto Raptors, Cade Cunningham of the Detroit Pistons and Evan Mobley of the Cleveland Cavaliers, who were unanimously selected.
The Orlando Magic’s Franz Wagner totaled 183 points and the Houston Rockets’ Jalen Green secured the last first-team spot with 158 points – 58 first-team votes and 42 second-team votes.
First-team All-Rookie players were selected from the top eight picks in the 2021 NBA Draft. No. 6 in the voting, Jones was a second-round pick as the 35th player chosen.
Josh Giddey of Oklahoma City, Bones Hyland of the Denver Nuggets, Ayo Dosunmu of the Chicago Bulls and Chris Duarte of the Indiana Pacers joined Jones on the second team.
Sacramento Kings guard Davion Mitchell, who played at Auburn in the 2017-18 season before transferring to Baylor, received 28 second-team votes to place 12th in the ballot.
A prep star at Hale County, Jones averaged 9.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.7 steals per game for the Pelicans.
Of the 126 players who made their NBA debut in the 2021-22 season, Jones ranked:
Second in matches with 78
Third of starts with 69
Third in minutes played with 2,335
Ninth in field goals with 274
Seventh in free throws made with 137
Fourth in offensive rebounds with 98
Ninth in defensive rebounds with 198
Seventh in rebounds with 296
Twelfth in assists with 167
First in steals with 130 (50 more than any other rookie and third-best total among all NBA players)
Third in blocked shots with 60
Seventh in points with 742
New Orleans was 3-13 when Jones became a regular starter Nov. 24. The Pelicans finished the regular season with a 36-46 record, ninth-best in the Western Conference.
This allowed New Orleans to enter the NBA Play-In tournament, where they beat the San Antonio Spurs 113-103 and the Los Angeles Clippers 105-101 to reach the NBA Playoffs. The No. 1 seed in the West, the Phoenix Suns, knocked out the Pelicans in six games in the first round.
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
