Minnesota Timberwolves: Anthony Edwards makes All-Rookie Team, Jaden McDaniels does not

One day after finding out that he would not win the NBA Rookie of the Year award, Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards learned that he was on the All-Rookie First Team.

But Edwards was the only Wolves player to be represented, as fellow rookie Jaden McDaniels received some votes for both the First and Second teams but ultimately fell short.

Minnesota Timberwolves: Anthony Edwards makes All-Rookie Team

There wasn’t much suspense about Edwards making the All-Rookie First Team, of course.

He finished as the runner-up in Rookie of the Year voting, landing second to LaMelo Ball but easily outpacing third-place Tyrese Haliburton, receiving 90 combined first and second-place votes to Haliburton’s nine.

Clearly, Edwards was going to make the team. Notably, Ball and Edwards were the only two teams that were unanimously voted as members of the First Team; Haliburton received 98 first-place votes and one vote for the second team.

That trio were no-brainers for the first team, along with Detroit’s Saddiq Bey, who received 63 First Team votes and 36 for the Second Team. Rounding out the top five was Houston’s Jae’Sean Tate, who landed 57 votes for First Team, just edging out New York’s Immanuel Quickly, who had 51 votes.

Minnesota Timberwolves: Jaden McDaniels misses out on Second Team

The only real suspense for Wolves fans was whether or not the Timberwolves’ other rookie would make a squad.

Alas, McDaniels fell under the “Other Players Receiving Votes” category. He did receive one vote for First Team and was one of just four players in the category to do so, along with Cole Anthony (one vote), Facundo Campazzo (three votes), and James Wiseman (three votes).

McDaniels technically finished 15th in voting, out-paced by the aforementioned trio as well as Boston’s Payton Pritchard.

It seems about right, as it would be hard to bump any of the Second Team members. Who from the quartet of Quickley, Desmond Bane, Isaiah Stewart, Isaac Okoro, and Patrick Williams would fall off?

For a draft that was billed as weaker than normal, this class was ultimately quite impressive. From gaudy stat-getters with sky-high potential like Ball and Edwards to contributors on playoff teams like Bane, Xavier Tillman, Quickley, Pritchard, and Devin Vassell, there’s a lot to like about this group.