You might have heard that this is the "Year of the Freshmen," and maybe you've wondered how we can be so sure after only one weekend of games.
There are no guarantees, of course, but this does appear to be an uncommonly strong group, one that includes Harry Giles, Josh Jackson, Markelle Fultz, Jayson Tatum, Lonzo Ball, Edrice "Bam" Adebayo and De'Aaron Fox. We've already compared this bunch favorably with the storied class of 2013-14, one headlined by the likes of Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker, Joel Embiid, Aaron Gordon and Julius Randle.
That's a high standard to match, to say the least. Assuming the freshman class of 2016-17 lives up to its billing, what will that look like, exactly? And what have we seen from these players thus far that indicates they can earn such praise?
Here's what we think we know about what a truly "special" class will look like, and why this current group may merit that label:
