For the second consecutive season, the NBA will allow sneakers of any color to be worn at any time, giving the league's biggest sneakerheads the leeway to turn heads no matter the night.
Although PJ Tucker has been breaking out a rotation of rare sneakers for years, the new rules and constant attention paid to footwear will only elevate the platform.
"For everybody as a whole across the NBA, being able to have everybody be able to switch out colors and wear crazy colors and have LeBron, Kyrie and KD have all of these crazy colorways, it opens up the spectrum for everybody, and now kids can do the same kind of thing," he said.
After being under contract with Nike throughout his career, Tucker is taking a new approach for the first time, embracing his sneaker free-agent status and looking to catch everyone off-guard with an assortment of pairs from every brand across the industry.
"Now, I can really open my whole catalog up and wear anything," he said. "Until I sign, I'm going to continue to do that daily. I'll literally wear everything, and whatever I feel is dope, I'll wear."
To kick off the debut week, Tucker arrived for Houston's season opener in green and pink Vans, with a red pair of Kobe Bryant's retro Adidas signature shoes in hand. Once he took the court, he laced up an exclusive edition of the Kobe 4 Protro inspired by Bryant's new children's book. At home hosting New Orleans on Saturday, Tucker broke out a pair of Houston native Travis Scott's latest retro Jordan collaboration in an olive and black "Cactus Jack"-themed colorway.
"I gotta wear the Travis 6 before somebody else does," Tucker texted just before the game.
From game to game, with his closet arsenal of thousands, there's no telling what he has in store.
"I don't think I'll run out of shoes," he said with a laugh.
While Tucker is having fun with his sneaker free-agent status, Phoenix Suns sharpshooter Devin Booker opted to ink a five-year extension with Nike.
Among a handful of headliners picked to continue the legacy of Kobe Bryant's signature line after Bryant's 2016 retirement, Booker wore a purple and gray, player-exclusive pair of the Kobe 4 Protro to kick off the season, with a variety of additional PEs expected in his arsenal.
Another longtime Kobe loyalist, Spurs guard DeMar DeRozan worked up his own custom pink and teal colorway of the Kobe 4 Protro, honoring his favorite offseason drink from his hometown of Los Angeles and its pro-am league twist on Kool-Aid.
"A tribute to my summers spent hoopin' and hanging out watching games at the Drew League," he tweeted. "If you've had Drew-Aid before, you get why I had to do it!"
Although he had three seasons remaining on his original Nike sneaker deal, Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum made headlines over the summer by switching within the Nike Inc. family to Jordan Brand as the subsidiary looked to get younger and deeper across its roster of around 30 athletes.
With Zion Williamson sidelined for the coming weeks, Tatum has become the interim headliner of the brand's new Air Jordan 34 model. He debuted his player-exclusive colorway this week in a gleaming green and gold with a custom "JT" icon stitched along the tongue.
"Getting the approval from the greatest player of all time at 21 [years old] is an incredible feeling," he said.
Elsewhere in the league, after mutually parting ways with AND1 just a couple of months into their partnership, Clippers forward Montrezl Harrell is back to being a sneaker free agent. With a rotation featuring custom-painted, cartoon-laden retro Jordans and new Adidas models, he kicked off the season by honoring Allen Iverson's latest launch, a hybrid blend of the blue- and red-toed Reebok Question from his rookie season.
"Was great being able to team up with Reebok and represent an icon," captioned Harrell.
As the lone leader of Converse's basketball reentry, Suns forward Kelly Oubre Jr. has already been donning everything from classic white and red looks of the new All Star Pro BB to a variety of graphic and patterned editions.
With camo and cheetah print options at the ready, his latest pair celebrates his longtime "Wave Papi" nickname.
"I like to create my own waves," he said. "For me to be a part of the Converse family, I'm moving in the right direction."
Check out all of the best sneakers from around the league during opening week, and be sure to vote on your favorite pair in our poll below. For real-time updates on sneaker culture and NBA kicks, follow @SneakerCenter on Instagram.