After starting for the majority of last season at small forward, Eric Gordon signed off on head coach Mike D’Antoni‘s recent choice to have Danuel House Jr. start there when the 2019-20 regular season begins for the Houston Rockets later this week.

Speaking at Tuesday’s home practice, D’Antoni said this when asked whether he simply told Gordon after making his choice:

No. I make [the decision] with him. He’s more important than the decision is. I make sure he’s comfortable with it, and make sure that it’s okay, and I get the best out of Eric. That’s more important than anything I can come up with. Once he signed off on that … I think it’s better for the team that we go this way, although nothing is ever written in stone. At the same time, it’s good that he was comfortable with it. We’ll give it a try. Eric will do whatever we think is best for the team.

Gordon started the first four games of the preseason at small forward before D’Antoni flipped to House for the final two games last week.

House, now 26 years old, averaged 9.4 points (41.6% on three-pointers) in 25.1 minutes per game with Houston. Meanwhile, Gordon scored 16.2 points (36.0% on three-pointers) in 31.7 minutes. Gordon was a starter in 53 of his 68 regular-season games, and he started all 11 postseason games for Houston at small forward.

Though the 6-foot-3 Gordon is a superior scorer, the 6-foot-6 House offers more athleticism and versatility. That could be critical for the Rockets, since Houston’s defensive efficiency — and especially its rebounding — fell off significantly from their league leading 2017-18 season (65-17) to the 2018-19 campaign (53-29). D’Antoni had cited the lineup replacement of 6-foot-8 small forward Trevor Ariza with the smaller Gordon, after Ariza left in free agency, as a key reason.

The move returns Gordon to his famed sixth-man role, from which he won the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year Award in 2016-17 with the Rockets. Before Tuesday’s practice at Toyota Center, the 30-year-old said he was on board with the change. Gordon’s comments:

That’s the good thing about coach. He communicates well with us, always lets us know what is going on and what he thinks about the situation. He always gives us his opinion. He makes it easier to make a decision. We’ll always make adjustments. Me, I don’t care. Whatever it takes to win. I know when I’m in the game as a starter or off the bench, I’m going to try to make an impact. That’s what it’s all about. That’s what we play this game for, to make an impact as soon as we hit the floor.

Gordon’s move to the bench also makes it easier for D’Antoni to accomplish his goal of having at least two of his three primary guards (Gordon, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden) on the floor at all times. In his new role, Gordon will replace whichever of Westbrook or Harden is the first to be subbed out in the first and third quarters.

With House starting at small forward and Gordon in the sixth-man role, the Rockets will begin their 2019-20 regular season this Thursday with a natonally televised home opener versus Milwaukee.