Category: Sports News

It was Bruce Lee who said, “Be water, my friend”.

Water is shapeless. Formless. Water will take the shape of whatever it’s in.

Water is weak, right?

Marcus Aurelius said that one should “Be like the rock that the waves keep crashing over. It stands unmoved, and the rage of the sea falls still around it.” Should an NBA team want to be the rock, or the waves crashing over it?

The Houston Rockets’ brain trust has shown signs of being each. Rafael Stone has some H20 in his approach. Perhaps he should lend his surname to Ime Udoka, who is rock solid in his principles. At times, it’s felt like Udoka’s rigidity has overridden Stone’s flexibility. The Rockets have been seemingly exclusively interested in signing “Udoka guys”.

Not anymore.

If you expected Marcus Smart to be the Rockets’ first signing of the summer, you weren’t alone. He is officially a Rocket now, but he wasn’t first in line. That would be Bogdan Bogdanovic. He is decidedly not a Udoka guy:

But he’s exactly what the Rockets need.

Rockets sign elite movement shooter

The last two seasons have not been kind to Bogdanovic. Last season, he managed just 23 appearances. The year before, he played 54 games, but scored just 10.3 points per game while shooting a solid-but-unexceptional 36.3% from long-range.

If you want a best-case scenario, look to 2023-24. In 79 games, Bogdanovic averaged 16.9 points per game while shooting 37.4% from deep. The year before that, he hit 40.6% of his triples.

Bogdanovic can hit movement threes, come off screens, and shoot off the dribble. He isn’t strictly a shooting specialist, either. Bogdanovic can handle the ball and set up teammates. He can do just about anything you like:

Besides rebound or defend, that is.

It’s not that Udoka would insist on rebounders at every position, but the idea that the Rockets would ever sign a subpar defender under his watch was unthinkable before now. This could represent an organizational shift:

Hopefully.

Rockets badly need spacing

The details surrounding the Bogdanovic signing haven’t emerged as of this writing, but it’s a one-year deal, so we can safely assume it’s a minimum.

Quick: Find a list of players with Bogdanovic’s offensive skillset who are also strong defenders. Sort them by salary. You’re going to find that these are $25 million-a-year players at a minimum.

Yet, the Rockets need shooting. They also need additional ball-handling. They do not have $25 million to spare.

Simply put, they need non-Udoka guys.

They got one. The extent of Bogdanovic’s role remains to be seen. Udoka may not trust him defensively.

Still, he is a Houston Rocket. That’s the point here. The Rockets made a signing that was contrary to Udoka’s principles. They were able to address roster needs in the process.

They were water.

It’s day two of LeBron James being the hottest free agent on the market. While no one knows his next move just yet, our latest update might tilt the scales in favor of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

ESPN’s Shams Charania reports that money isn’t the driving factor behind LeBron’s next destination — and that the King is even willing to accept the veteran minimum if it means competing for a championship.

Naturally, this opens the door to all 29 teams. Everyone has enough cap space to offer LeBron the minimum. But only one team has roots as deep as Cleveland. And money was one of the only obstacles they had to clear.

The Cavs were never going to be able to offer James a large chunk of cash to return. Any homecoming would be contingent on James wanting to be back in Cleveland. That’s because the Cavs flat-out don’t have any money to offer.

From that perspective, the Cavs were starting this race with a heavy disadvantage. Other teams, including the Golden State Warriors, would be able to give James a contract that they couldn’t match. Now it looks like that might not matter.

Cleveland had the highest payroll in NBA history last season. They were far above the Second Apron and have been working to get below it this summer. They’ve already lost Dean Wade and Keon Ellis to free agency, while James Harden has opted out of his contract to help restructure a more team-friendly deal.

All of this can work towards keeping money available for James. But if this report is true, money might not be that important.

Of course, James won’t complain if the Cavs can offer him more. Though it sounds like that won’t be a deal-breaker. James wants happiness and an opportunity to win another title. In my opinion, Cleveland can offer both.

The Cavs made it to the Eastern Conference Finals last season. And while they were thumped in four games by the eventual champions — the one thing that’s been missing this entire time is a wing. Now? They might have the quintessential wing on their roster. James can complete the puzzle and make his hometown team a championship contender again. Money won’t get in the way of that.

With the acquisition of Miles Bridges, the Phoenix Suns opened one roster spot. After sending both Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neale to Charlotte, the organization needed to replace the shooting it lost. That became the priority, and the Suns addressed it by signing veteran sniper Luke Kennard to a two-year, $13 million contract with a player option for the second season.

On paper, it appears to be exactly what Phoenix needed. But how much does it ultimately improve the roster? Does Kennard adequately replace the shooting the Suns lost? And how should this signing be viewed in the context of the entire Miles Bridges transaction?

So what grade do the Suns deserve for adding Luke Kennard? Let’s talk it out.

Player Grade: B

Luke Kennard isn’t going to wow you with a complete basketball skill set. He’s a sharpshooter. That’s what he does, and that’s why he’s here. He’s not going to grab a bunch of rebounds, he’s an average playmaker, and he’s a below-average defender. When you look at his overall report card from Basketball Index, the holes in his game are easy to spot.

But when you’re truly elite at one skill, and it’s the exact skill your team needs, you begin to understand why his overall grade comes in at a B. The Suns aren’t asking him to rebound. They aren’t asking him to be a stopper defensively. They’ll surround him with players on the second unit who can help cover those deficiencies while allowing him to operate where he’s most comfortable.

There will absolutely be nights when he frustrates you. He’ll miss a defensive assignment. He won’t have the lateral quickness to keep someone in front of him, and opposing guards will get downhill. The hope is that Phoenix’s interior defense is improved enough to compensate for those shortcomings. That’s why fit matters when evaluating Kennard. I can easily see him playing 20 minutes a night and knocking down 3 to 4 three pointers. That kind of production would be incredibly valuable for the second unit.

He’s your stand in the corner and let it fly guy. And over the course of his career, he’s proven to be one of the best in the league at doing exactly that.

Acquisition Grade: A+

When you looked at the list of available free agents whose primary skill was shooting, I thought Kennard would simply be out of Phoenix’s price range. The Suns ended up using their full mid-level exception to sign him, but it’s not like they were the only team interested. He had other options, and some of those teams are viewed as much stronger championship contenders. He also could have stayed with the Los Angeles Lakers, a team that clearly valued what he brought during its postseason run.

The fact that the Suns were able to bring him to Phoenix despite those alternatives continues to reinforce something we’ve seen throughout this offseason. Phoenix is still a desirable destination. It’s still a place that attracts free agents.

Knowing Kennard and Grayson Allen were teammates at Duke, I’m sure the two had conversations about what it was like to play in Phoenix. While Grayson’s first couple of seasons were spent in a locker room dealing with plenty of turmoil, the organization looks much different today. You can see the direction the franchise is headed. You can see the way it’s operating. And that’s something players want to be a part of. Clearly, Kennard does.

Overall Grade: A-

This was a great acquisition for Phoenix. It’s refreshing not to spend free agency digging through the veteran minimum market, hoping one of those signings can outperform expectations. Instead, the Suns identified a player who fills a clear need and used one of the few meaningful tools at their disposal to acquire him.

Kennard is going to be part of the rotation. He’s going to play meaningful minutes, and he’ll provide much-needed offense for the second unit through efficient three-point shooting. That’s exactly what this roster lacked after the Miles Bridges trade, and it’s exactly what the Suns addressed.

It’s an impressive signing, and about as close to a best-case scenario as Phoenix could have hoped for. Once again, it showcases the Suns’ ability to operate effectively on the margins, maximizing the limited flexibility they have while continuing to add quality talent to the roster.

And there goes the other unrestricted free agent.

ESPN’s Shams Charania has reported that Kelly Oubre Jr. will be signing a two-year, $17 million dollar deal with the Pacers, ending his tenure in Philadelphia after three seasons.

Given their financial restraints, it always felt likely the Sixers could only retain one of Oubre or Quentin Grimes. That only got trickier when Grimes scored a contract that will pay him $15 million per year from the Lakers.

Oubre though went for a much more reasonable number, one the Sixers could have spent while staying under the first apron.

The Pacers were one of several teams that reportedly met with Oubre according to Kelly Iko of Yahoo Sports. According to Iko, Oubre also met with the Sixers, Lakers, and Trail Blazers.

In his three years in Philadelphia, Oubre started 150 games, averaging 14.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game on 45.7%/32%/75.4% shooting splits. In the 2025-26 campaign, he posted the highest three-point percentage of his career at 36% on 4.8 attempts per game.

Oubre was a productive wing in his time here, especially when his shot was falling. He was put through the Sixers injury ringer more than most role players. He missed 32 games this past season with various ligament injuries in his elbow and knee. He got off to a torrid start his first season as a Sixer, averaging 16 points per game in his first eight games before being struck by a car while riding a bicycle.

In the two seasons the Sixers made the playoffs with Oubre, he’d been given some of the toughest defensive assignments ranging from Jalen Brunson to Jaylen Brown.