Anonymous Player Poll

[Goldstar88]

The Athletics 2026 Anonymous NBA Player Poll:

Most underrated player:

From late February to early April, our writers fanned out across North America, asking players a wide array of questions, ranging from individual awards to player movement to league issues. Our writers surveyed 161 players, a record high for this project, which is approximately one-third of the league?s workforce.

Players believe the Boston Celtics? Derrick White still has not received his due respect. He is among the leaders here year in and year out. In 2024, he tied for the win with the Oklahoma City Thunder?s Jalen Williams. Last year, he finished second, trailing only the Detroit Pistons Cade Cunningham. And now, he?s won again, tying with the Atlanta Hawks Jalen Johnson.

To me, he?s one of the most important players in the league, one player who voted for White said. Just doing it on both ends. I didn?t know how much he had offensively.

One of the players who voted for White said: "Everyone is trying to say Jaylen Brown is an MVP candidate. They're wrong. White has actually been the biggest reason they're so good this season. He does everything offense, defense, leadership  for them."

[Goldstar88]

poll continued:


Which current coach, aside from your own, do you find the most impressive?

Joe Mazzulla, the Celtics ultra-competitive, no-nonsense fourth-year head coach.

Because Tatum was expected to miss the entire 2025-26 season as he recovered from the Achilles tendon injury he suffered during the 2025 playoffs, and because the Celtics had traded away floor-spacing big man Kristaps Porziņģis, the Celtics entered October expected to tumble down the standings. NBA.com?s annual GM Survey had league general managers predicting that Boston would finish eighth in the East.

However, Boston defied all of those expectations, finishing second in the East with a 56-26 record. The Celtics also ranked second in offense and fourth in defense.

One respondent said he voted for Mazzulla because of "his tenacity and the way that he fires his group up, the intensity that he coaches with.

It?s no surprise that Thunder coach Mark Daigneault finished second. His defending-champion Thunder ended the season with the league?s best record, 64-18. Last year, when we asked players to name the league?s best coach, he won with 21.8 percent of the vote.

J.B. Bickerstaff placed third this year in the most impressive coach vote, with 11.0 percent. His Pistons ended the regular season with home-court advantage in the East after going 60-22.

[Who]

The other interesting name in this was Jalen Johnson being named the most under-rated player.

Interesting because JJ is a player linked with Jaylen Brown trade ideas over the last year. It looks like JJ has improved to the point where if ATL was willing to trade him for JB it would be a straight swap rather than ATL including other valuable assets in addition to JJ as BOS would have demanded 12 months ago.

I am not even sure they trade JJ straight up for Jaylen - just because of the age difference. JJ is only 24 years old. Jaylen is 29 and turns 30 at the start of next season. Even if Jaylen is a bit better right now, it is not worth 5 extra years of All-Star level player from Jalen Johnson.

So if ATL was to trade for Jaylen, it would be a lesser package. They have some valuable picks but that is a rebuilding trade and BOS does not want to rebuild in the middle of Tatum's prime. Their other assets are lesser talents like NAW, Okongwu, Dyson Daniels. Risky youth like Risacher or Kuminga. Nothing that would tempt me to part with Jaylen Brown.

Looks more like ATL is now out of the Jaylen Brown sweepstakes unless it is a 3 team deal with them sending those picks somewhere else and BOS getting back a proven All-Star.

[Goldstar88]

The other interesting name in this was Jalen Johnson being named the most under-rated player.

Interesting because JJ is a player linked with Jaylen Brown trade ideas over the last year. It looks like JJ has improved to the point where if ATL was willing to trade him for JB it would be a straight swap rather than ATL including other valuable assets in addition to JJ as BOS would have demanded 12 months ago.

I am not even sure they trade JJ straight up for Jaylen - just because of the age difference. JJ is only 24 years old. Jaylen is 29 and turns 30 at the start of next season. Even if Jaylen is a bit better right now, it is not worth 5 extra years of All-Star level player from Jalen Johnson.

So if ATL was to trade for Jaylen, it would be a lesser package. They have some valuable picks but that is a rebuilding trade and BOS does not want to rebuild in the middle of Tatum's prime. Their other assets are lesser talents like NAW, Okongwu, Dyson Daniels. Risky youth like Risacher or Kuminga. Nothing that would tempt me to part with Jaylen Brown.

Looks more like ATL is now out of the Jaylen Brown sweepstakes unless it is a 3 team deal with them sending those picks somewhere else and BOS getting back a proven All-Star.

Unless Atlanta thinks they can contend with a core of:
Daniels, McCollum, NAW, Brown, and Okungwu. That team would be really good.

[SparzWizard]

Probably Derrick White voted for Derrick White and hyped himself up

[Moranis]

The other interesting name in this was Jalen Johnson being named the most under-rated player.

Interesting because JJ is a player linked with Jaylen Brown trade ideas over the last year. It looks like JJ has improved to the point where if ATL was willing to trade him for JB it would be a straight swap rather than ATL including other valuable assets in addition to JJ as BOS would have demanded 12 months ago.

I am not even sure they trade JJ straight up for Jaylen - just because of the age difference. JJ is only 24 years old. Jaylen is 29 and turns 30 at the start of next season. Even if Jaylen is a bit better right now, it is not worth 5 extra years of All-Star level player from Jalen Johnson.

So if ATL was to trade for Jaylen, it would be a lesser package. They have some valuable picks but that is a rebuilding trade and BOS does not want to rebuild in the middle of Tatum's prime. Their other assets are lesser talents like NAW, Okongwu, Dyson Daniels. Risky youth like Risacher or Kuminga. Nothing that would tempt me to part with Jaylen Brown.

Looks more like ATL is now out of the Jaylen Brown sweepstakes unless it is a 3 team deal with them sending those picks somewhere else and BOS getting back a proven All-Star.

They do have New Orleans pick, which is 7th at this point.  I do think there may be value in 7, Okongwu, NAW, and Risacher.  You get 2 veteran starter level players, take a flyer on Risacher hoping the change of scenery does him good, and then the 7th pick (Flemings is projected in that range).  Obviously none of those players is as good as Brown, but I think the team might be better both in the short term and especially in the long term if either (or both) Risacher and the 7th pick end up hitting their ceilings.