The Houston Rockets have a good amount of roster carry-over from last season. Key pieces P.J. Tucker, Clint Capela, Gerald Green, and Austin Rivers all will return to try to carry Houston further than last season's disappointing exit. Rivers got a chance to explain why he re-signed with the Rockets even after continuous early exits:

“For one, it was a blessing to go to Houston. The fans there are amazing…It's good to be in Houston because all their teams are popping…They got three teams legitimately competing for titles. It's a sports town…Most importantly, above all, I was accepted there in the franchise… Going to Houston, after all this craziness that went down mid-season, I thought it was gonna be like what do I have to do here? Just right away it clicked…That's all I care about, just try to get this team over the hump. And we're right there. So it ended up being a great situation…we're reloaded now in a wide-open league and we're very confident.”

Rivers has spent a little over one season with the Rockets after the Wizards traded him to Houston midway through the 2017-18 season. Last year, Rivers was usually the first guard off the bench for Houston and averaged 8.7 points and 2.3 assists in 47 games.

Rivers will look to continue providing Houston with some quality back up minutes. It's clear he is ready to go all-in with the franchise and he is comfortable and ready to help push the team past the playoff barrier that has stopped them in previous seasons.