When the Houston Rockets traded for Christian Wood in the 2020 offseason, it was some of the best dealmaking of the entire offseason for an NBA front office. Houston managed to turn Robert Covington into Wood and two protected first-round picks. It was a move that both improved the roster in the present and kept an eye on the future. The idea of Wood next to Russell Westbrook and James Harden just made a lot of sense as a basketball fit.

However, both Westbrook and Harden aren't on the roster anymore and the Rockets have shifted to a rebuild. When the 2022-23 season rolls around, Wood will be 27 years old and on the last year of his contract, while the rest of Houston's core will be considerably younger and still on their rookie deals. His placement on the roster, along with veteran guard Eric Gordon, just feels a bit odd. All of these things were true before the season and now another wrinkle makes Wood seem even more out of place: rookie big man Alperen Sengun.

It's hard to put into words how good Sengun has been for the Rockets this season. Let's put it into numbers:

Alperen Sengun (per 36 minutes):

18.2 points

9.1 rebounds

5.2 assists

2.2 steals

1.4 blocks

59.6% true shooting

It's been clear for a while now that he's one of the best players on the roster and that he should start. However, Wood stands as a major roadblock in front of Sengun as they're both best suited to play center and the two-center lineups haven't fared well for Houston this season. This leaves about 15 minutes a game left for Sengun off the bench—roughly what he's been playing for the past three weeks. His talent just warrants way more time.

https://twitter.com/HoustonRockets/status/1469866641680912386?s=20

And sure, the Rockets could get him more time by playing him with Wood for spurts. Perhaps that will get him up to 18-20 minutes a game. The problem is we're way past that point with Sengun. He's been on another planet production-wise these past two games. Something's got to give.

At some point, Houston has to ask itself, “Are we committed to a championship rebuild or are we committed to short-term success?”. Because one window (Sengun) represents everything the rebuild is all about: searching for cornerstone talents. The other window (Wood) may get you more wins now but it costs you valuable information. That information is whether or not Sengun can be the centerpiece to a rebuild.

That sounds crazy, right? I mean he's only been playing for 15-minute stints so shouldn't we all pump the brakes?

Historically, I think I've been pretty measured when evaluating young players. I think every fanbase tends to overrate the ones they possess. For example, Rockets fans went to the mat for Gary Clark a couple of years ago. He hasn't found a consistent NBA role since.

This isn't to throw shade at Clark. I want all young players to succeed in the NBA, but lots of them are going to fail and fans have a blindspot for that stuff. Clark liked that tweet and I was really hoping he would come back and laugh at me for being wrong. There's still time I suppose.

Anyways, I say all that to lead to this: I think I am being measured about Sengun. He's been worthy of a starting spot all season and there's All-Star potential there to at least explore. He may not hit it, of course, but it's increasingly looking like he might. The per-minute production is just off the charts for a 19-year-old rookie center.

Christian Wood is awesome, but this is probably the best opportunity the Rockets are going to get to cash out on him. He's got two years remaining on his deal, he's producing at a high level offensively, and most importantly, he's healthy. Nobody can predict the future so it's impossible to know if he'll be healthy at next year's trade deadline. However, we do know that he'll have one less year, which means less value to a team looking to trade for him.

The return that the Orlando Magic got for Nikola Vucevic is what Houston should be aiming for. Wood is a damn good player so I'm not at all suggesting that they give him away for table scraps. I think he'll draw serious interest and the Rockets need to start accepting phone calls on him as soon as December 15th rolls around (the unofficial start to the trading season in the NBA). It's not worth holding on to Wood if he's simply going to be your fallback option in 2023 free agency (when Houston has max cap space).

Sengun figures to play a significant part in Houston's future and they just have to find out how much so. Is he just an awesome starter in the NBA or a cornerstone talent worthy of being built around? These answers will dictate how they should handle trades, draft research, and timeline formulation for their rebuild. The earlier they find this stuff out, the better.