RGM Top 25 NBA Player Poll 2025-26 -- Round 15!

[bisme37]

Oh hey again good pals. This is the thing where we rank the top 25 NBA players for 2025-26 hooray.

Basically vote for 1 of the guys in the poll, and you can also post a comment that nominates a player to be added for the next round of voting. Then a day or two later I'll pop in and make the next poll.

So like: "Vote Jokic, nominate Kuzma." Or whatever.

If you change your mind, the poll is set up so you can change your vote as often as you'd like until the poll closes and the next thread goes up. (The poll is limited to 10 options.)

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Results so far:

#1: Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets with 63% of the votes;
Added to next poll: Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons
https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2472330

#2: Shai Gilgeous Alexander, OKC Thunder with 54% of the votes;
Added to next poll: Anthony Davis, Dallas Mavericks
https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2472418

#3: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks with 50% of the vote
Added to next poll: Jalen Williams, OKC Thunder
https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2472506

#4: Luka Doncic, LA Lakers with 62% of votes;
Added to next poll: Evan Mobley, Cleveland Cavaliers
https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2472644

#5: Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs with 60% of the vote;
Added to next poll: Kevin Durant, Houston Rockets
https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2472702

#6: Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves with 41% of votes;
Added to next poll: Paolo Banchero, Orlando Magic
https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2472754

#7: Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors with 30% of the votes;
Added to next poll: Kawhi Leonard, LA Clippers
https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2472918

#8: Anthony Davis, Dallas Mavericks with 46% of the vote;
Added to next poll: Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics
https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2473076

#9: Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks with 36% of votes;
Added to next poll: Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns
https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?p=119556568#p119556568

#10: Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers with 29% of votes;
Added to next poll: Pascal Siakam, Indiana Pacers
https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2473174

#11: Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons with 27% of votes;
Added to next poll: Chet Holmgren, OKC Thunder
https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2473228

#12: Evan Mobley, Cleveland Cavaliers with 31% of votes
Added to next poll: Karl-Anthony Towns, NY Knicks
https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2473294

#13: Kevin Durant, Houston Rockets with 29% of votes
Added to next poll: Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers
https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2473394

#14: Jalen Williams, OKC Thunder with 31% of votes;
Added to next poll: Jimmy Butler, GSW
https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2473480

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Not yet added:
Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks
Ja Morant, Memphis Grizzlies
James Harden, LA Clippers
Amen Thompson, Houston Rockets
Derrick White, Boston Celtics
Rudy Gobert, Minnesota Timberwolves
Tyrese Maxey, Philadelphia 76ers
Scottie Barnes, Toronto Raptors
Zion Williamson, New Orleans Pelicans
Franz Wagner, Orlando Magic
De'Aaron Fox, San Antonio Spurs
Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat
Lamelo Ball, Charlotte Hornets
Jaren Jackson Jr, Memphis Grizzlies
Tyler Herro, Miami Heat
Lauri Markannen, Utah Jazz
Ivica Zubac, LA Clippers
Paul George, Philadelphia 76ers
Domantas Sabonis, Sacramento Kings
Jamal Murray, Denver Nuggets
Alperen Sengun, Houston Rockets
OG Anunoby, NY Knicks
Kyrie Irving, Dallas Mavericks
Etc etc.

This is meant to be a projection of player rankings for this coming season. Guys like Tatum ( ), Hali and Dame are likely not playing, so I begrudgingly left them out.

Enjoy!

[brackdan70]

KAT, Siakam, Banchero, Brown, maybe even Chet deserve consideration here. I like Wagner as well and Derrick White but they are not on the poll yet.
I am going Jaylen Brown here as I think he takes the biggest leap and was on par with those other guys last year.
Nominate Wagner

[-Luke-]

For the third time in a row:

Voted Banchero
Nominate Franz

[SkyHook]

V Brown
N Gobert

[brackdan70]

V Brown
N Gobert

I keep forgetting about Gobert.
He deserves to be on the list soon

[dhsilv2]

V - Chet - yep I'm betting on a massive leap this year.
N - Gobert - really not on here yet? We're more than 20 deep guys

[Caneman786]

Vote Kawhi Leonard
Nominate Zion Williamson

Next up:

Joel Embiid
Jimmy Butler III

Alperen Sengun
Pascal Siakam
Ivica Zubac
Franz Wagner

Zion Williamson
James Harden
Ja Morant

Amen Thompson
Paolo Banchero

Bam Adebayo
Chet Holmgren
Rudy Gobert

Tyler Herro
Karl Anthony-Towns
Domantas Sabonis
Julius Randle

Jaylen Brown
Devin Booker

... (a few more tiers) ...

Net negatives: LeBron James

[SA37]

Voted Kawhi

Nominate Ja Morant

I would have nominated Kyrie here, but we'll see how he comes back the knee injury. I considered Harden here, but I think he's become a pretty inconsistent, lethargic player. He's like these Brazilian footballers who are happy to coast through games while reminding people how talented they are from time to time.

[SA37]

V - Chet - yep I'm betting on a massive leap this year.
N - Gobert - really not on here yet? We're more than 20 deep guys

Gobert just had his worst reg season in ~7-8 years and his production and minutes dropped precipitously in the playoffs. I'd take every big guy listed before Gobert, let alone guys at other positions.

[Bad Bart]

Vote: Chet (explained in a previous comment)
Nominate: De'Aaron Fox - looking forward to seeing how he performs during a full season with a competent organization. I don't think his impact can be fully captured by stats.

[dhsilv2]

V - Chet - yep I'm betting on a massive leap this year.
N - Gobert - really not on here yet? We're more than 20 deep guys

Gobert just had his worst reg season in ~7-8 years and his production and minutes dropped precipitously in the playoffs. I'd take every big guy listed before Gobert, let alone guys at other positions.

Yeah but you're wrong about defense in almost every fundamental way. Not to mention Gobert was dominate in his minutes on the court in the playoffs.

[SA37]

V - Chet - yep I'm betting on a massive leap this year.
N - Gobert - really not on here yet? We're more than 20 deep guys

Gobert just had his worst reg season in ~7-8 years and his production and minutes dropped precipitously in the playoffs. I'd take every big guy listed before Gobert, let alone guys at other positions.

Yeah but you're wrong about defense in almost every fundamental way. Not to mention Gobert was dominate in his minutes on the court in the playoffs.

If he had been dominant, they wouldn't have sat him for ~half the game in the playoffs. No one sits players who are "dominating".

In any case, perhaps Gobert's drop off was just a bad year and he'll bounce back. Or maybe it's just the beginning of his decline. It'll be interesting to see how things play out.

[Pistol_Pete10]

Vote: Banchero
Nominate: Young

[dhsilv2]

Gobert just had his worst reg season in ~7-8 years and his production and minutes dropped precipitously in the playoffs. I'd take every big guy listed before Gobert, let alone guys at other positions.

Yeah but you're wrong about defense in almost every fundamental way. Not to mention Gobert was dominate in his minutes on the court in the playoffs.

If he had been dominant, they wouldn't have sat him for ~half the game in the playoffs. No one sits players who are "dominating".

In any case, perhaps Gobert's drop off was just a bad year and he'll bounce back. Or maybe it's just the beginning of his decline. It'll be interesting to see how things play out.

They literally won the minutes Gobert played and lost the minutes he didn't...

[jowglenn]

Vote Banchero
Nominate Wagner

[MoneyTalks41890]

V Paolo
N Franz

[SkyHook]

Yeah but you're wrong about defense in almost every fundamental way. Not to mention Gobert was dominate in his minutes on the court in the playoffs.

If he had been dominant, they wouldn't have sat him for ~half the game in the playoffs. No one sits players who are "dominating".

In any case, perhaps Gobert's drop off was just a bad year and he'll bounce back. Or maybe it's just the beginning of his decline. It'll be interesting to see how things play out.

They literally won the minutes Gobert played and lost the minutes he didn't...

For an off year, he was still #1 in the league in defensive DPM. I'll take that.

[brackdan70]

I’m going to need to see voter ID for these LBJ voters….the silent plurality?

[SA37]

Yeah but you're wrong about defense in almost every fundamental way. Not to mention Gobert was dominate in his minutes on the court in the playoffs.

If he had been dominant, they wouldn't have sat him for ~half the game in the playoffs. No one sits players who are "dominating".

In any case, perhaps Gobert's drop off was just a bad year and he'll bounce back. Or maybe it's just the beginning of his decline. It'll be interesting to see how things play out.

They literally won the minutes Gobert played and lost the minutes he didn't...

And yet he still played significantly less than in the regular season and produced less per 36 than in the regular season -- again, his worst in about 8 years:

Per 36:

Reg season: 13 and 12 1.6bpg 67 FG% 67 ft%

Playoffs: 10 and 11 1.6 bpg 58 fg% 52 ft%

[Mavrelous]

V: LeBron
N: Franz