Cooper Flagg, Ace Bailey Highlight Top Rookies to Watch Tonight

There’s only a handful of games left for each team in preseason, meaning we’re inching closer to the beginning of the 2025-26 NBA season.

The 2025 NBA Draft class was thought of to be a strong one, and that’s been confirmed with several notable performances from lottery picks, late-firsts, second rounders and more.

Below, we’ll highlight several rookie matchups or performances you should be keyed in on:

Cooper Flagg vs. Ace Bailey

The top matchup of the night will happen in the late slot at 8 p.m. CT, where Cooper Flagg and the Dallas Mavericks will face off against Ace Bailey and the Utah Jazz.

Flagg continues to be the highest-profile newbie in the league, having already played a few halves of basketball for the Cavs. Through those two games — where he’s averaged just under 19 minutes per game — he’s managed 10.5 points on 50% shooting, with 4.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.5 blocks.

All in all, Flagg’s been as-advertised in limited minutes.

Ace Bailey, though, has been stellar. He’s looked like the best player on the floor for long stretches, averaged 22.5 points on a blazing 66% shooting, with 6.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game.

Ace Bailey through two preseason games:

- 22.5 PPG
- 6.5 RPG
- 2 APG
- 2 SPG
- 19/29 from field (65.6%)
- 4/10 from three (40%)

I’m not sure he could be playing much better than he has through two games. pic.twitter.com/wHtkudFIKF
— Art Cummings (@ArtTakesNote) October 11, 2025

Tonight’s Mavericks-Jazz matchup — which could feature Flagg and Bailey guarding each other — will be a battle of the preseason’s top rookies so far.

Dylan Harper

Dylan Harper made his quasi-NBA debut on Friday, scoring nine points on 4-for-6 shooting against his former teammate in Bailey and the Jazz.

He looked phenomenal scoring on-ball, even adding three assists to zero turnovers in finishing with a Spurs-high +20 plus-minus.

Harper is just scratching the surface, and plenty league-wide will be locked into San Antonio’s 6 p.m. CT bout with the Pacers to see if he can improve as early as Game 2.

Tre Johnson

In facing off against the Toronto Raptors on Sunday night, No. 6 overall pick Tre Johnson made his NBA debut too. He didn’t score the ball particularly well, adding eight points on 3-for-9 shooting and missing his only triple attempt. In the least, he hunted boards, adding seven of those.

Having averaged 18.5 points through Summer League and a freshman-high 19.9 at Texas, it’s only a matter of time before shots start falling for Johnson. And that could start as early as the team’s 6:30 p.m. CT bout with the New York Knicks.