Aaron Holiday's Role Will be Even More Important Next Season

Signings and player movements have marked the Houston Rockets' offseason since their elimination by the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the playoffs. The Rockets made the most significant trade of the summer as they traded Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks for future Hall of Famer Kevin Durant.

The Rockets also acquired new players through free agency. The Rockets signed Dorian Finney-Smith to replace Dillon Brooks at small forward and welcomed back Clint Capela, who started his career as a Houston Rocket. The Rockets also retain several of their players.

The Rockets re-signed veterans Jeff Green, the current longest-tenured Rockets player, Jae'Sean Tate, and Aaron Holiday. Of those three players, Holiday is likely to see the most playing time. With the trade of Jalen Green, the Rockets will now have one less guard in their rotation, which means the remaining guards, especially the backup guards, will see increased playing time.

As of this writing, the Rockets have three guards who will more than likely see all of the minutes in the backcourt. Fred VanVleet, who was one of the players the Rockets worked out a new contract with this offseason, second-year guard Reed Sheppard, and Holiday.

VanVleet will start again this season, just as he has in the previous two seasons. The Rockets have made it clear over the last several weeks that they expect Sheppard to have a better season than he did in his rookie year. Sheppard struggled at times with the speed of the NBA and seemed to lack confidence in his shot. With the departure of Green, however, the Rockets are banking on Shepard to shake off his struggles in his rookie campaign.

Stone has made it clear that the roster you see today will more than likely be the roster the Rockets open the season with.