BOSTON — The Athletic released their annual anonymous player poll results after surveying 161 players between February and April, roughly a third of the league’s personnel pool. Out of the 151 votes cast, three Boston Celtics players finished inside the top-six most underrated players in the league. The Celtics most underrated trio being recognised by their peers feels significant considering the type of season Boston just endured.
Celtics Most Underrated Trio Quietly Gives Boston Real Hope After A Brutal Ending
Derrick White tied for first with Atlanta’s Jalen Johnson after averaging 16.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.3 blocks per game. Despite struggling from behind the arc during stretches of the regular season and even parts of the playoffs, players still seemed wowed by his two-way impact.
After all, White tied with Neemias Queta for the most blocks on the team at 1.3 per game and finished top-15 league-wide in total blocks ahead of respected rim protectors like Isaiah Stewart and Alex Sarr. A guard casually hanging around the same statistical neighbourhood as centres in shot blocking will always look slightly ridiculous on paper. Then you watch the games and it somehow makes perfect sense.
Derrick White Still Getting the Recognition Players Have Been Giving Him for Years
Players around the league clearly believe Celtics guard Derrick White still has not received his due respect. He has hovered around the top of these rankings year after year. In 2024, he tied for the win with Oklahoma City’s wing Jalen Williams. Last year, he finished second behind Detroit guard Cade Cunningham. Now, he has won again alongside Johnson. At some point, when NBA players continuously tell everyone the same thing, maybe it is worth listening.
White has become one of the defining winning players of this era. He won an NBA championship as a key contributor to the 2023-24 Celtics and followed it up with a gold medal as part of the 2024 U.S. men’s Olympic team. He has earned two NBA All-Defensive Second Team selections, but has never made an All-Star team or an All-NBA team.
The Celtics most underrated trio does not stop with Derrick White either. He is joined by Jaylen Brown and Payton Pritchard, whose strong finishes in the voting likely had plenty to do with Boston surviving most of the season without Jayson Tatum and still finishing 56-26. Expectations around the Celtics dipped once Tatum went down but Boston ignored all that and kept stacking wins anyway.
Jaylen Brown Carried More Than People Want to Admit
Despite recent doubts surrounding his long-term future in Boston, it would be remiss not to harp on the exceptional season Brown had for the Celtics. Brown was the main reason Boston secured the second seed in the East. He averaged 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists while shooting over 47% from the field, all while routinely taking on the toughest perimeter assignment every night.
That combination of offensive burden and defensive responsibility is exhausting enough to make most stars quietly beg for a Tuesday off against Charlotte. Brown embraced it nightly. He scored at least 30 points on 35 different occasions last season, including a season-high 50-point performance on January 3rd. During one ridiculous stretch in December, Brown scored 30 or more points in nine consecutive games.
Brown’s season became even more impressive when viewed through the context of Tatum’s absence. Defences loaded up on him every night. Opposing teams knew exactly who they needed to slow down and it rarely mattered. His playmaking improved, his pace improved and his shot diet became far more controlled compared to earlier years. The loose, chaotic downhill attacks that once defined stretches of his game appeared far less frequently. There is a maturity to Brown’s offensive game now that got the attention of his peers.
Payton Pritchard’s Contract Might Quietly Become Boston’s Next Headache
The only reason Pritchard did not feature more heavily in Sixth Man of the Year conversations was because he started too many games. He was simultaneously too valuable as a starter and too productive off the bench to fit neatly into the award conversation. In 50 starts for the Celtics, Payton Pritchard averaged 17.0 points, 5.2 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game. Off the bench, he averaged 17.2 points, 5.0 assists and 3.3 rebounds across 29 appearances.
His contract situation also deserves attention heading into the summer. Pritchard made $7.2 million last season, will make $7.8 million next season and $8.3 million in the final year of his current deal. He becomes extension eligible on October 1st. It will be interesting to see whether the Celtics can negotiate another team-friendly extension similar to the bargain contract he is currently playing under.
Considering the price tags attached to high-level guards around the league, Boston may not get another discount this time around. Cheap rotation guards who can score efficiently, survive defensively and play both on and off the ball tend to get paid very quickly. NBA front offices suddenly become poets when describing “valuable connective pieces” once contract negotiations begin.
The Celtics having multiple players viewed as underrated is not a guaranteed predictor of future success, but it is still meaningful. Add in the fact Joe Mazzulla was voted the league’s most impressive coach by the same poll, alongside the likelihood of Tatum finally having a full offseason and training camp with the roster, and there are legitimate reasons for optimism despite the disappointing first-round exit. The Celtics most underrated trio will not erase the sting of how the season ended, but it does offer a reminder that Boston’s foundation remains far stronger than recent narratives suggest.
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