Brogdon named Rookie of the Year; Antetokounmpo Most Improved

Matt Velazquez
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

For the first time in NBA history, a second-round pick has won the rookie of the year award. And for the first time in Milwaukee Bucks history, one of their own earned the league's most improved player award.

On Monday night, Milwaukee Bucks guard Malcolm Brogdon was named rookie of the year at the inaugural NBA Awards in New York City. Later in the evening, Giannis Antetokounmpo earned recognition as the league's most improved player.

Lakers forward Julius Randle battles for the ball with Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (left) and guard Malcolm Brogdon.

Brogdon was on hand at New York's Pier 36 for the event. When he was announced as the winner of the night's first award ahead of Philadelphia's Joel Embiid and Dario Saric, he celebrated the moment with his mother, team owners Wes Edens and Jamie Dinan as well as Bucks president Peter Feigin before heading up to the stage.

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While on stage, last year's 36th pick — the lowest draft pick to win the award since Woody Sauldsberry, the 60th pick, won the award in 1958 — thanked his mother and God before sharing his appreciation for the Bucks. Brogdon also addressed the numerous other players like himself who were undervalued heading into the NBA.

"They believe in me, they've given me a tremendous opportunity and it's been a great year,"  said Brogdon, who received 64 first-place votes out of 100. "I think this is a testament to the whole organization.

"The last thing is, I want to say this is a testament to guys that are underestimated, guys that are second-round picks, guys that are undrafted every year that are looked over regardless of the work they put in, regardless of what they do. You can always achieve your dreams if you have faith, if you have sacrifice; you sacrifice for what you want. A lot of the time you're not going to fit in, a lot of the time you're going to have to skip those parties, you're going to have to do things other people aren't doing to get to where you want to be. So I just want to say thank you to everybody."

Brogdon averaged 10.2 points, 4.2 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game while shooting 40.4% from three-point range. His assists and steals per game were the most among rookies while his three-point and free-throw percentages (86.5%) ranked second.

With the award, Brogdon became the second Bucks player to earn Rookie of the Year recognition along with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who won it in 1970. Bucks head coach Jason Kidd was named the co-Rookie of the Year with Grant Hill in 1995.

Bucks guard Malcolm Brogdon accepts the rookie of the year award.

“Malcolm worked tirelessly to improve his game and became a valuable contributor,” Kidd said in a statement. “In fact, he was so reliable it was easy to forget that he was a rookie. Malcolm has a boundless future and we want to congratulate him on winning this well-earned award.”

Antetokounmpo, who received 80 of 100 first-place votes to easily beat out Denver's Nikola Jokic and Utah's Rudy Gobert, was not on hand to accept his award. He is in Greece putting on a series of events with his brother Thanasis.

He did, however, record a video that the Bucks shared on Twitter following the award announcement. In it, Antetokounmpo thanked his teammates, coaches and family before addressing Bucks fans.

"At the end of the day, you guys know what to expect from me," he said. "Every and each day I'm going to keep getting better and hopefully in the future I can help my team do great things, big things on the court and bring a title to Milwaukee."

Earlier in the day, the NBA announced its All-Rookie and All-Defensive teams, with those squads including Brogdon and Antetokounmpo, respectively.

Antetokounmpo, an all-star and second team All-NBA selection, earned a spot on the NBA's All-Defensive second team. He received seven first-team votes and 21 second-team votes from a panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters, which gave him 35 points — enough for the final forward spot on the second team.

Milwaukee's first All-Defensive team selection since Alvin Robertson in 1991, Antetokounmpo led the Bucks in points, assists, rebounds, blocked shots and steals and ranked in the top 20 in the NBA in each of those categories — something that had never been done in league history. Overall, the 6-foot-11 point-forward ranked fifth in the NBA in blocks (151), ninth in steals (131), ninth in defensive win shares (4.5) and 13th in defensive rebounds (558).

The NBA All-Defensive first team included Gobert, Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green, San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard, Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul and Houston Rockets guard Patrick Beverly. Joining Antetokounmpo on the second team were Memphis Grizzlies guard Tony Allen, Spurs guard Danny Green, New Orleans Pelicans center Anthony Davis and Oklahoma City Thunder forward Andre Roberson.

Brogdon was a unanimous selection to the league's All-Rookie team. He was joined on that team by Saric and Embiid, with Saric also a unanimous pick. Sacramento Kings guard Buddy Hield and New York Knicks center Willie Hernangomez filled out the rest of the first team.

With his selection, Brogdon became Milwaukee's first All-Rookie team selection since 2014 when Antetokounmpo made the second team. The Bucks' last first team selection was Brandon Jennings in 2010.

Hawes makes his choice: On Monday evening, Bucks center Spencer Hawes opted into the final year of his contract according to multiple sources. Hawes, who arrived in Milwaukee in the middle of last season in the trade that sent Miles Plumlee to Charlotte, will make about $6 million in salary next season.