7 breakout candidates for the NBA's 2025-26 season

With the 2025-26 NBA regular season a little more than a week away, here's a look at five players poised to make a leap toward basketball stardom, or at least basketball relevance.

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The co-favorite for Most Improved Player, Nembhard's numbers and profile stand to benefit from Tyrese Haliburton's season-long absence in Indiana. More of a combo guard than a pure point guard, Nembhard will have more of the ball - and run more of the Pacers' offense - than ever before. Will his Haliburton cosplay result in an All-NBA selection and another Finals appearance? Certainly not, but the Canadian guard has the potential to enter the All-Star conversation (if the Eastern Conference still gets 12 representatives) and help lead Indiana back to the playoffs.

There's much more talent left in Haliburton's wake than critics are giving Indiana credit for, and as a two-way guard familiar with head coach Rick Carlisle's system, Nembhard projects to thrive as the head of the snake. The X-factor will be his shooting. A down-year last season dropped his career 3-point percentage to 33.5%, but that number skyrockets to 47.3% in the postseason and 36.2% combined between the regular season and playoffs. If Nembhard can convert from beyond the arc more consistently on higher volume, the 25-year-old will blow doubters away this season.

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Thompson's development was slowed when he had to miss time due to a blood clot, and he may forever find himself in the shadow of twin brother Amen, who's on the precipice of superstardom in Houston. But make no mistake, Ausar is ready for his own breakout season.

The 22-year-old forward has positionless versatility and All-Defensive upside. What he lacks in individual offensive talent or shooting ability, he makes up for with basketball IQ and sheer determination. Thompson and the Pistons should get plenty of easy buckets by virtue of his smartly timed cuts, offensive rebounding, and ferocity in transition. As he gets more comfortable with the ball in his hands, Thompson's playmaking vision should eventually shine through.

Put it all together, and you have an impact player on a solid playoff team as a floor - but a future All-Star and potentially a secondary star on a future contender as a ceiling. Look for Thompson to tease the latter in 2025-26.

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Pritchard has always been far more than just the half-court heaves casual fans know him for. The reigning Sixth Man of the Year is an excellent reserve guard; an elite shooter, sound decision-maker, and pesky defender who plays much bigger than his 6-foot-1 frame should allow.

With Jayson Tatum sidelined, Pritchard might get the chance to start. Even if he doesn't, Pritchard will take on more of a scoring role than ever before. His efficiency might suffer as a result, but don't expect much of a drop-off there. The biggest difference will be the uptick in his production.

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Don't worry if you're not familiar with Huff's name or game right now. You will be in six months' time.

An undrafted center who earned modest rotation time in Memphis for the perennially beat-up Grizzlies, Huff should get plenty of minutes - and may even start - for the Myles Turner-less Pacers. And that's not the drop-off you think it is for Indiana, as evidenced by the per-36 minute numbers of both centers last season.

Stats per-36 minutes can often be misleading, as there's a reason reserves don't play starters' minutes: They usually aren't good enough, and their production would fall off if they tried. Still, Huff has the two-way abilities to provide Indiana with Turner-esque production in shorter bursts.

Among 180 players who made at least 80 3-pointers, Huff's conversion rate ranked 35th. The only other centers who shot better than 40% from deep on as many attempts as Huff were Nikola Jokic, Karl-Anthony Towns, Kristaps Porzingis, and Nikola Vucevic, a quartet with a combined 15 All-Star selections. He also finished fifth in block percentage among qualified players, with a slightly better defensive field-goal percentage than Turner.

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Sheppard has a chance to be the best player from his weak 2024 draft class, and with Fred VanVleet sidelined in Houston, the sophomore guard will get a chance to prove it sooner rather than later.

Though no player on the Rockets' roster can do what VanVleet did as a two-way floor general and offensive table-setter, Sheppard will be one of the players tasked with filling in for the former All-Star. That suits the 21-year-old just fine, as Sheppard is a more natural ball handler and shooter than Amen Thompson, and a purer playmaker than Kevin Durant. He should also feast on the open looks generated by Durant and star center Alperen Sengun.

Whether Sheppard's offseason work in the weight room helps him hold up defensively could determine how many minutes he earns in head coach Ime Udoka's rotation, but the Rockets suddenly find themselves in desperate need of what Sheppard can bring on the offensive end. That's why he'll get the chance to start when the season tips off. For what it's worth, in an extremely small (three-game) sample of starts last season, Sheppard averaged 19.7 points, 4.7 assists, and two steals on 49-52-100 shooting.

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Starting the season without LeBron James is a blow to the Lakers and the NBA at large, but if there's a player who can find a silver lining in the King's absence, it's LaRavia.

The 23-year-old is one of the players in consideration for a starting spot with James sidelined. My money's on LaRavia winning that spot and being an L.A. fan favorite by the time James returns.

A stretch-four on the offensive end, LaRavia quietly shot a sparkling 42.3% from deep on a small but respectable sample (142 attempts) in Memphis and Sacramento last season. With Luka Doncic (and eventually James) driving and kicking, LaRavia should get plenty of clean looks to knock down many more 3-pointers in Los Angeles. He's also a defensive workhorse. That can lead to over-aggressiveness and foul trouble, but LaRavia has great hands and can be very disruptive. Plus, he offers head coach JJ Redick lineup versatility, as he's strong enough to guard some bigs yet mobile enough to guard smaller forwards.

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Shead finished first in games played and sixth in minutes as a rookie on a tanking Raptors squad last year, but the former University of Houston guard probably didn't turn many heads outside of Canada. Expect that to change this season.

Shead projects to emerge as a dependable sixth man for a revamped Raptors team suddenly looking to make a playoff push in the depleted Eastern Conference, with a two-way game that perfectly matches how head coach Darko Rajakovic wants to play. Shead is an active, disruptive defender who can pressure the ball full-court if he has to, and he's a heady organizer who plays with pace on the offensive end.

His teammates and coaches are already lauding the 23-year-old as a young leader. They may soon be pushing his candidacy for Sixth Man of the Year, particularly if his shooting stabilizes. The comparisons to former Raptor VanVleet will only get louder in the coming months.

Honorable mention: Ajay Mitchell, Thunder

If he was playing almost anywhere else, Mitchell would pop as a potential building block. In Oklahoma City, the versatile sophomore guard is something between the 10th and 12th man. If injuries or other circumstances provide a path to consistent playing time this season, look for Mitchell to add to the Thunder's embarrassment of riches.

Joseph Casciaro is theScore's lead NBA reporter.