Overview
- The Rockets signed Marcus Smart to a reported two-year, $13 million contract that includes a player option for the second season, a move reported Thursday by multiple outlets.
- Houston also added Bogdan Bogdanović on a one-year, low-cost deal designed to improve the team's three-point shooting after a postseason marked by poor perimeter accuracy.
- Smart reunites with head coach Ime Udoka and is expected to supply playoff-tested defensive intensity, veteran leadership, and on-ball pressure that the Rockets lacked late last season.
- Bogdanović brings a career three-point percentage near 38 percent but arrives with recent hamstring and hip injury concerns, making his one-year deal a low-risk chance to regain full form.
- The short-term contracts keep salary and roster flexibility as Houston prepares to issue a qualifying offer to Tari Eason, protect Amen Thompson as nearly untouchable, and remain open to trading other young assets.