Jahlil Okafor Voted to NBA’s All-Rookie First Team

Sixers center Jahlil Okafor has been voted to the NBA’s All-Rookie First Team | Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Sixers center Jahlil Okafor has been nominated to the NBA’s All-Rookie First Team, the NBA announced today.

Okafor joins Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns, New York’s Kristaps Porzingis, Phoenix’s Devin Booker, and Denver’s Nikola Jokic on the first team. Justise Winslow, D’Angelo Russell, Emmanuel Mudiay, Myles Turner, and Willie Cauley-Stein made up the second team.

Okafor’s 71 first team votes were the 5th highest among rookies, behind Towns (130), Porzingis (130), Booker (103), and Jokic (73). Okafor also received 44 second place votes, meaning he was on 117 out of a possible 130 ballots.

Sixers point guard T.J. McConnell also received 7 total votes, including two first team votes.

Okafor finished his rookie season averaging 17.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 1.2 blocked shots per game. Injuries limited Okafor to just 53 appearances on the season.

Earlier this week it was announced that Okafor finished 5th in Rookie of the Year voting, once again finishing behind Towns, Porzingis, Jokic, and Booker, in that order. Towns was a unanimous selection as Rookie of the Year, receiving all 130 first place votes.

Okafor had surgery to repair a small tear in his meniscus back in March and missed the remainder of the season. He has yet to return to basketball related activities.

Okafor’s teammate, Nerlens Noel, was voted to the All-Rookie First Team following the 2014-15 season. He combines to form what could be a crowded front court with Okafor next season, as the team could add some combination of Joel Embiid (returning from injury), Dario Saric (overseas), and, potentially, Ben Simmons, who is one of the presumptive top two picks in the upcoming 2016 NBA draft.