Former Kentucky stars Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham are set to make their NBA debuts

The NBA season kicks off Tuesday night, and it’s full of former Wildcats. Two games a night to open the season, before several games each day after that. Former Wildcat Karl-Anthony Towns will kick things off with his new team in New York with the Knicks, while Julius Randle will also settle into his new team with the Minnesota Timberwolves, going up against Anthony Davis and Los Los Angeles Lakers Both Towns and Randle were involved in a blockbuster trade together this offseason.

While there are a couple of Wildcats taking the stage on opening night, there are a couple of former Kentucky stars who will be making their highly anticipated league debuts. Rob Dillingham and the Minnesota Timberwolves play on opening night, and Dillingham is one of the most exciting rookies to watch in his draft class. He’s one of the heavy favorites for Rookie of the Year, but there’s a former teammate who’s getting a lot of buzz and could become the favorite for the award. Reed Sheppard will make his debut with the Houston Rockets on Wednesday.

With the two former Wildcats, they won’t be starters for their teams right away, but they will play key roles coming off the bench and be solid contributors. It will be very interesting as the season progresses to see how their roles change on their teams. There’s a lot of preseason stock being put on Sheppard more than any other rookie, but Dillingham is right there with him when it comes to the top rookies in the class.

Kentucky fans can see the former Wildcats debut starting for Dillingham on Tuesday night with Minnesota and Sheppard on Wednesday with Houston. You can check the NBA opening week schedule here.