Utah Jazz’s Donovan Mitchell wins December Rookie of the Month

The results of the All Star voting to this point were released by the NBA Thursday afternoon. Many Jazz fans were hopeful that Donovan Mitchell would at least appear on the list even though his odds of making it on the team are admittedly pretty low.

But sadly, Mitchell did not get enough votes to even be top 10 among guards.

It’s not a terrible surprise Mitchell didn’t find his way into the top 10. Being a public vote, it becomes a popularity contest. Hence why Lonzo Ball, in all his brick-making glory, is eighth. But most of the names on the list are clearly better than Mitchell at this point and have well-established resumes to their names.

So while it is still a disappointment, it isn’t too much.

For those curious about the East vote as of Thursday, here you go.

Apparently Milwaukee has rallied their fanbase because the Greek Freak is ahead of the King in the voting. But Giannis is scoring just under 30 points per game while taking virtually no outside shots, so that’s impressive.

What is no surprise is that Kyrie Irving is running away with the vote among guards. With Paul George gone Isaiah Thomas out with a hip injury until just a few days ago and Kyle Lowry regressing, there are no guards who can hope to match Uncle Drew.

Donovan Mitchell may have been snubbed from the list of All Star candidates, but he was honored with the Western Conference Rookie of the Month award for the month of December. Jayson Tatum was his Eastern Conference counterpart.

In December, Mitchell led all rookies in points per game with 23.1 and also averaged 3.4 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.8 steals. He also became the first rookie to score 40 points in a single game since Blake Griffin in 2010-11 with a 41-point performance Dec. 1 against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Former Jazz point guard and current Kings’ player, George Hill, has not exactly found the greener pastures he sought after turning down Utah’s supposedly meager offer. Reports are now saying the Kings are shopping the 31-year old point man. Here’s part of an article from Wael Saghir of The Score.

Hill signed on in Sacramento during the offseason with the understanding that the Kings would fight for a playoff spot, having added Vince Carter and Zach Randolph alongside their bevy of rookies. Instead, they’re off to a 12-25 start - not necessarily shocking given preseason projections and their strange roster construction.

Saghir had a quote from Hill about how the season has gone.

“I’ve never been through anything like this, not ever,” [Hill] said. “It’s not what I expected, a little more difficult than I anticipated. I think as a team we all get along. ... But we’re still trying to learn each other, and it’s a different style of play. I’ve just got to figure things out.”

The Starters, of NBA TV discussed the Rookie of the Year race recently and, spoiler alert, they think it’s wide open.

The general consensus is that 76ers phenom Ben Simmons is still the favorite due to his all-around impact for his team (16.9 PTS, 8.5 REB, 7.4 AST per game) but Mitchell is at the top of some people’s lists due to his incredible December.