Rain or Shine got a big boost — at least in practice — from Gilas Pilipinas center Kai Sotto.

The 7-foot-3 Sotto showed up and joined the Elasto Painters during their training session last Tuesday, sparking wild speculations that he is preparing for a stint in the Philippine Basketball Association.

Sotto, who has seen stints in the Australian National Basketball League and the Japan B.League, also participated in Rain or Shine’s scrimmage.

Elasto Painters forward Santi Santillan posted photos and videos of Sotto’s visit on his Facebook account.

A clip showed Sotto scoring on a follow-up two-handed dunk off an air-balled tip by Beau Belga.

“Pwede na sa next game,” Santillan wrote in his post that already earned 1.6 million views as of press time.

But PBA insiders were no longer surprised seeing Sotto attending Elasto Painters training.

Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao, for one, is a close friend of the Sotto family with its patriarch, Ervin, serving as his playing assistant coach when he was still with NLEX from 2018 to 2019.

Prior to Sotto, Kevin Quiambao of the Goyang Sono Skygunners in the Korean Basketball League trained with the Elasto Painters upon the invitation of assistant coach Caloy Garcia, who also served as one Topex Robinson’s deputies at De La Salle University.

“I think when Kevin practiced with us, he was using the opportunity of competing against players who were more experienced than him, something which he brought to La Salle,” said Guiao in a report.

“On the other hand, Kai practiced with us because he doesn’t want to lose his form and at least somehow keep himself in shape.”

Sotto, who skipped Gilas’ campaign in the third window of the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifier, is still waiting to secure a contract in the B.League. He last played for the Koshigaya Alphas.

Rain or Shine is preparing for its second game in Group B of the PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup against Meralco on Saturday at the Ynares Center-Antipolo.

The Elasto Painters suffered a 106-131 drubbing at the hands of Blackwater to open their campaign in the season-ending, import-laden conference last Saturday.