5. Have Austin Rivers opt in.
Austin Rivers signed on with the Houston Rockets in the December of 2018 after being waived by the Phoenix Suns. In the following season and a half, Rivers has shown himself to be a solid player for the Rockets.
He has averaged 8.7 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 25.6 minutes per game. His shooting splits are mostly solid going at .418/.340/.644 over 115 games. While these are not eye-popping, Rivers shot .421/.356/.703 as he got more comfortable with the offense this season.
Where the Rockets need Rivers is that he is a good foil for any of Westbrook, Harden or Eric Gordon, depending on who he takes the court with. He is an unselfish player who does his best to provide what the team needs.
The other benefit of Rivers for the Rockets is that he comes with a price tag of only $2.3 million for next season. This is important as the Rockets have two contracts of over $40 million each next season and need to fill the rest of the roster out with low cost, high impact players.
Rivers has played with Harden for almost two seasons and Westbrook for a full season. He will be able to use this experience to work within new head coach Stephen Silas’s systems as required. Chemistry is crucial for a championship contender and Rivers has developed some with this team.