This was actually my first time on that floor. The office of Rockets owner Les Alexander has a balcony overlooking the court.

When it was go time, Francis came in to the room and made it clear he was excited to be back.

"I'm definitely ecstatic about the opportunity to come back to the place where I begin this journey, possibly making it to the championship," said Francis. "I'm excited to be here back with Yao Ming, a guy like Tracy McGrady and all the other guys who are really good players."

Rockets coach Rick Adelman wasn't there as he had already scheduled a trip back to Portland (likely still moving), so it was Rockets GM Daryl Morey and Francis who fielded questions after the introduction.

Right off the bat, the biggie -- how are all of these "talents" going to mesh?

The Full Circle for Francis

For those counting at home, Francis holding up his new Rockets jersey is the 4,713th indicator that Bobby Sura is not making a comeback (photo taken by Jeff Balke)

There was just something about #3 downplaying egos being any kind of issue when we were all gathered for a press conference at 3:33pm. By my watch he came out at 3:32 ... for a moment I thought he may stand 6 feet away from the mic for 30 seconds before calling in his final approach. I didn't confirm if that was a team marketing ploy or a Francis request, so not sure if that counts as our first mini-red flag.

"You have to display it on the basketball court," said Francis. "I think you have more mature guys who are willing to have a role where it helps the team become successful. At this point, I don't think egos or anything will be a problem. I'm content and happy in my life. I'm content financially. The next thing to do is become content and happy on the basketball court."

You can see in Francis' face -- especially around his eyes -- that he's aged quite a bit. He's only 30 years old and it was less than 3 years ago that he was still under a max contract in Houston, but it looks to me like he's been through hell and back since.

Even though he didn't have the best season last year with the Knicks and he's not the same Stevie Franchise of 2000, Francis can still play.

"We're super excited to welcome Steve back to the Rockets family," said Morey. "He's really a strong piece to get us deeper and farther in the playoffs."

Will he start though?

It's likely, but I'm not as convinced as others. To me, too much of Francis and McGrady together could drop the overall scoring efficiency as both shoot rather low from the outside and tend to dominate the ball. The first guard off the bench for "scoring punch" may be the more important role anyway. Both Francis and Mike James have something to prove after disappointing seasons last year, and both should pack a punch at the one. Rafer Alston is a mortal lock to be traded.

For Steve's part, he says starting doesn't matter to him.

"We have a lot of talent, a lot of versatile individuals on this roster," said Francis. "I guess it will play out once we get to training camp. I'm a basketball player and I've said that since I did my first press conference here as a Rocket. It doesn't make a difference where I fit in, I'm just going to go out and play no matter what."

It may not be on purpose, but this really has been the summer of "Stickin' It to Jeff Van Gundy". Not only does he get unceremoniously canned, but the team brings back Bonzi Wells after he quit the team then follows that up with the signing of his Super Bowl buddy in Francis. I still say they need to send Jeff and Steve along with a pair of tickets and a cameraman to the NFL's big game in 2008. No editing required to make that great television.

But again, this was a classic Morey move -- low risk, high reward -- and he's done it multiple times this offseason. "SPLASH" is finally a term Rockets fans can really use.