The newest NBA season opened up last night with a double-OT thriller between the Thunder and Rockets, and a West Coast bout between the Lakers and Warriors.

Tonight, the rest of the league will make their season debuts, hoping to kick 2025-26 campaigns off with a bang.

One subplot to the start of the NBA season will be the rolling out of the 2025 NBA Draft class, which is sure to infuse the league with more scoring, defense and general fireworks. 

Here are some of the top rookies to watch in tonight’s NBA slate:

The obviously highest profile game featuring rookies will assuredly be Mavericks vs. Spurs, which not only features former No. 1 picks in Anthony Davis and Victor Wembanyama, but the 2025’s top two draftees in Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper.

Both players saw fairly stellar preseasons, albeit in limited time, only playing halves here and there. Now, Spurs and Mavericks fans will be watching with bated breath to see if the two live up to the hype.

They aren’t likely to go at each other much, considering Flagg is a 6-foot-9 forward and Harper likely San Antonio’s backup lead guard. But they’ll still be must-see TV.

The Mavericks and Spurs tip off at 8:30 p.m. CT. 

Through his first two preseason games, No. 5 pick Ace Bailey looked the part of an NBA superstar, rather than an NBA newbie.

The Jazz forward scored 25 points on 11-for-16 shooting versus Houston, then turned around and scored 20 on 8-for-13 shooting.

Preseason is to be taken with a grain of salt, but Bailey looked legit, showing off the sharpshooting and offensive firepower than made him one of the top prospects in the class.

Bailey won’t likely replicate that success during a tougher regular season. But if he can, watch out. The Jazz will face off against the Clippers at 8 p.m. CT.

Flagg and Harper will be known commodities as contributors on their respective teams, but two rookies who fans are hoping can swing the scales will be Kon Knueppel and Egor Demin.

Knueppel was picked fourth, and is likely to slot in perfectly between LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller. He had a fine preseason, and the Hornets are hoping he can add winning impact to a team desperately wanting to win more games in the East.

The Nets are in more of a developmental mode, and are hoping Demin can break out in his rookie season. He missed most of the preseason due to injury, only playing in the team’s final game but looking polished in adding an efficient 14 points.

The Nets and Hornets tip off at 6 p.m. CT.