AFTER months of waiting, the 2024/25 National Basketball League (NBL) season has finally arrived, and the anticipation has never been higher ahead of an opening round of action.

It is all set to kick off at HoopsFest on Thursday night, with all games set to take place in Perth as part of a new festival of basketball in Western Australia, alongside the WNBL preseason matches and the Under-18 Club Championships.

Following the busiest off-season in competition history, the NBL is set to produce one of the most competitive seasons in recent memory, with most sides rightfully confident in their hopes of claiming the ultimate prize.

With that in mind, Rookie Me Central is here to list three players worth keeping an eye on this weekend as the season truly begins.

Jack White – Melbourne United

Although United lost some championship pedigree over the off-season, one welcome sight was the return of White. The forward has spent the last two years in the NBA, winning a championship with the Denver Nuggets and gaining some valuable insight playing alongside the world’s best player in Nikola Jokic.

Now White is set to pull on the United jersey once again, and looms as a central figure in the team’s frontcourt. An athletic machine with the ability to put pressure on the rim as well as stretch the floor, he could produce a career-best season and will be one to watch in tonight’s clash with the Tasmania JackJumpers.

Darius Days – Illawarra Hawks

The Hawks lost their best performer of the 2024/25 season in Gary Clark to overseas opportunity, but have added a seriously impressive replacement in Days. The power forward plays similarly to Clark, and even offers a bit more power at just 24 years of age.

He looks set to shoulder a lot of the offensive load under Justin Tatum, and clearly impressed the Hawks when they faced off against Days when he was a member of the Shanghai Sharks in a preseason clash last month. Illawarra struck while the iron was hot, picking up Days as its final signing of the 2024/25 season and completing the roster in emphatic fashion.

Montrezl Harrell – Adelaide 36ers

The final player on this list is also the one with the highest profile, with Harrell joining the 36ers as an injury replacement player for Jarell Martin. The former NBA Sixth Man of the Year is the biggest name signed in NBL history, and there will be plenty of eyes on him as he makes his debut for Adelaide.

At his best, Harrell is a physical inside presence that can score in the low block and crash the boards at a seriously high rate. If he can return to his best form that saw him emerge as one of the best bigs in the NBA, it will be massive for Adelaide’s prospects early in the season.