Yuki Kawamura is doing what he always seems to do: making people root for him almost immediately.
That was true when he first landed with the Memphis Grizzlies, a team that, at the time, had the kind of energy that could light up an arena. Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Dillon Brooks were rolling together, smiling for SLAM Magazine covers and playing with a kind of joy that jumped off the screen.
Kawamura, the small guard who barely saw the floor, still found a way to become a favorite. Whether it was Morant showing him local slang or Kawamura whipping behind-the-back passes in garbage time, he gave fans something to latch onto.
Even as that Grizzlies vibe unraveled during his lone season there, Kawamura kept smiling.
That’s the thing about him. He brings positivity into the building no matter what’s going on around him, and that same effect is showing up again in Indiana.
Against the Philadelphia 76ers on July 11, Kawamura logged 19 minutes, scored 12 points, and finished at +3 in a seven-point loss. Afterward, Rick Carlisle had plenty of praise for him, saying, “he’s an easy guy to like… He’s seeing things before they happen. He goes hard.”
That kind of praise carries real weight coming from Carlisle, especially when he later compared Kawamura to his veteran core on an ESPN broadcast. That group includes Obi Toppin, Pascal Siakam, and TJ McConnell.
The Pacers’ summer league run is now sitting at 1-2, which means the team will miss the playoffs and has only one game left. Kawamura’s time with Indiana will likely end soon, though there’s still a path to a two-way deal or some G-League minutes.
The 5-foot-7 point guard probably won’t land on the roster, since Indiana has just one spot left, but he has clearly helped keep the energy up. And even with the Pacers lacking a lot of true NBA talent on this summer league roster, there’s still been a real spark around him.
That matters, even in July. Summer League doesn’t always give you much beyond flashes and fun, but Kawamura keeps supplying both.
In Other News...
Pacers Fans Are Suddenly Being Asked To Imagine LeBron In Indiana
The Pacers have spent the summer trying to look like a team built for the next step, with Tyrese Haliburton at the center of everything after his run to the 2025 NBA Finals before the injury derailed that push. Indiana still has a clear long-term pitch: a fast, connected style, a young star in Haliburton and a path to contending again in the 2026-27 season.
So when LeBron James enters the free-agent conversation, even the faintest connection gets attention around Indianapolis. James has not publicly listed the Pacers among his options, and there has been no confirmed discussion between the sides, but the idea has enough basketball logic to linger because of Haliburtons fit and the way Indiana wants to play. The practical hurdles are obvious, too, since even a veteran-minimum offer would require the Pacers to clear space, which keeps this more in the realm of speculation than anything concrete for now. [Read more 🡒]
LeBron Rumor Just Put A Surprising New Team In Play
The LeBron chatter that has been bouncing around the league has now brushed up against Indiana, mostly because the Pacers have enough roster flexibility to at least make the math interesting. On paper, the path would be narrow and would require some careful maneuvering around the apron, but the idea has gained a little extra oxygen with Tyrese Haliburton set to share the stage with James as a special guest co-host at Fanatics Fest.
Still, this is more rumor mill than reporting, and there is no credible indication that the Pacers are actually in the mix right now. Indiana would need a very specific sequence of moves to even get close to a veteran-minimum deal, and the broader conversation also includes a handful of more obvious landing spots, which is why this feels like a long shot even before the real decision is announced. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Rally From Disaster Only To Suffer Another Brutal Finish
The Pacers Summer League group had already spent most of the afternoon climbing out of a hole, and for a while it looked like the comeback would be enough. Indiana erased an early 18-point deficit to get back level by halftime, then leaned on a steady scoring night from Rienk Mast, Jalen Slawson and Gabe McGlothan to keep pressure on Toronto in a game that stayed tight down the stretch.
Braden Smith had the ball moving all night and finished with nine assists, but Indiana could not turn that control into a closing win. The final sequence left the Pacers a single point short in a 94-93 loss, another frustrating finish in a game they had done so much to salvage, and one that will linger because they were close enough to make the last possession feel like it should have been enough. [Read more 🡒]