Juan Carlos Navarro traveled back to Spain with no regrets -- believing that his NBA rookie season was a success.
The 6-3 guard's statistics backed up that notion, and Navarro received more confirmation Tuesday when the league named him to the All-Rookie second team. Joining Navarro on the second team were Philadelphia 76ers forward and Memphis native Thaddeus Young, Toronto's Jamario Moon, Detroit's Rodney Stuckey and Houston's Carl Landry.
The first team included Rookie of the Year Kevin Durant and Jeff Green of Seattle, Atlanta's Al Horford, Houston's Luis Scola and the Los Angeles Clippers' Al Thornton.
Navarro and Scola were the only rookies to appear in all 82 regular-season games.
"This has been a very positive experience,"
Navarro wrote on his Web site shortly after returning to Barcelona. "I went (to the NBA) with the intention of playing minutes and to be able to show my ability. I think I won the respect of players and also the teams. ... I think I felt more like a rookie on the inside than the outside."
The league's 30 head coaches voted, selecting five players for the first team and five players for the second team regardless of position. Coaches were not permitted to vote for players on their own team.
Playing his first NBA season after a 10-year professional career in Spain, Navarro placed in the top five among rookies in scoring average (10.9 points per game, third), 3-pointers made (156, first), 3-point field-goal percentage (.361, second), assists (2.2, fourth) and free-throw percentage (.849, second).
Those 156 long-range baskets were just two shy of the NBA's rookie record held by Kerry Kittles (158 in 1996-97).
Young, meanwhile, emerged from Mitchell High School and Georgia Tech to become a starter for the Sixers in their first-round playoff battle with Detroit. Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks believed that Young gave the team more offensive punch than his veteran teammate, Reggie Evans.
Young, 19, averaged 10.2 points and 4.5 rebounds in the postseason after averaging 8.2 points and 4.2 rebounds in 74 regular-season appearances.
"The progress that Thaddeus made during the course of his first NBA season reflects not only the talent he possesses, but also his disciplined work ethic and determination to succeed,"
Sixers general manager Ed Stefanski said in a news release.
The 6-8 swingman was the 12th overall pick in the 2007 draft.
