What will Shandon Anderson mean to the Rockets?

The Rockets have acquired the services of ex-Jazz, Shandon Anderson. How will he affect the Rocket team? Some fans seem to believe that Anderson will be a star for years to come. Others tend to be more conservative and say all we did was to sign another team's bench player. I don't think either one is completely accurate. I believe he has the potential to develop into a good starting small forward/shooting guard.

He does have his plus side:

He has a decent outside shot, but he's no Dale Ellis. He's a good slasher, but he's no Clyde Drexler. He's known for being a good one-on-one defender. He's young (26 at the end of this year). He's an athletic small forward, but can still guard opposing shooting guards. He has a ton of playoff experience (49 games in 3 yrs). I think his best asset is that fact that he seems to not have a serious weakness in his game. He isn't the most talented guy, but his overall game is promising.

But there are a few question marks:

He's only started 4 games in his career, and he has expressed that he wants to start. He has only averaged 19.0 minutes a game over his career. His steals may be and his assists definitely are a little low for his position. His free throw shooting needs to improve some to be able to play quality minutes in the 4th quarter of games. He doesn't have the ideal size (6'6" 210lbs) to guard the Garnetts, Abdur-Rahims, Wallaces, etc.

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What I feel the Rockets really have done is to get a young athletic SF with potential to replace Pippen. Even though he lacks height, his quickness should make it hard for the taller SFs to guard him. Pippen isn't gone yet, but after his most recent remarks about Barkley's unwillingness to work hard to win I hope it's just a matter of time. The Rockets are far from having their opening day roster set in stone. We still need to see what can be done with: Sam Mack, Don MacLean, Matt Bullard, Matt Maloney, Anthony Miller, Stanley Roberts, and their three PF draft picks.

This is what our roster looks like as of now:
(Assuming Pippen has played his last game as a Rocket)

C -- Hakeem/ (??)Washington or Roberts or Hamilton(??)
PG -- Barkley/Massenburg/K. Thomas
SF -- Anderson/ (??)MacLean or Bullard or Mack(??)
SG -- (??) /Mobley
PG -- Francis/Mobley/Drew

So, as of now, not counting any other changes the Rockets are likely to make, here's my assessment. We are deepest at the point, albeit young. We are strong at PF, but short: Barkley 6'5", Massenburg 6'9", and Thomas 6'8". We are relatively deep at SF, but without a proven talented starter. Our two biggest holes are a starting SG and a back up for Hakeem. If either or both of these needs can be filled via a Pippen trade, then I believe we will have a very deep talented team. One that, if it gels correctly, must be considered a title contender.

Well, Anderson's final season stats are in and here's how he did.  He was the only Rocket to play in all 82 games.  He was second on the team in minutes played, behind Francis.  He was third on the team in FG%, with at least 250 attempts, behind Kelvin Cato and Carlos Rogers.  He was second on the team in steals, behind Francis.  He turned out a better assist performance than his increased minutes should've produced.  He played 1.73 times more minutes than his career average, while dishing out 2.64 times more assists than his previous career high.