Familiar faces, new places: Grading debuts for Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kawhi Leonard, other NBA stars

As Giannis debuted for Miami and Kawhi made his great escape to Toronto, LaMelo Ball was up to his old tricks and Anthony Davis… finally played a game! After three games on Tuesday night, the rest of the NBA teams opened their 2026-27 seasons on Wednesday night. And with it, we finally got a look at a host of star players with their new teams in regular-season action on the heels of a rather eventful summer across the league. After grading LeBron James's opening act with the 76ers, here are the report cards for some other notables after their first games in different digs. The biggest name to change teams this offseason (non-LeBron division).

Once again, Pat Riley got his man. But even after acquiring Antetokounmpo, Riley hinted that they were still looking to add another major piece, indicating that the Heat needed to improve a roster that could clearly use more floor spacing, shot creators, scoring and depth. That's certainly how it looked in the Heat's ugly 25-point home loss to the Timberwolves in the season opener. Antetokounmpo had 35 points in 30 minutes, but that still wasn't enough to keep the Heat in the game. To the extent that there were any positives for Miami, at least Giannis looked like Giannis — including airballing a free throw and