All-NBA voting exposes what Rockets still lack in loaded West

The All-NBA Teams have been officially released. The Houston Rockets had one player honored: Kevin Durant. Although fans should be proud that the 37-year-old legend made an All-NBA Team while wearing a Rockets jersey, the overall results of the All-NBA voting are troubling for Houston.

Four players received at least 90 of a possible 100 votes for First Team All-NBA: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic, Victor Wembanyama and Luka Doncic. All four of those players are either in their prime or before their prime. They also all play on one of the top-four seeds in the Western Conference.

The Rockets, on the other hand, have a player on the tail end of his career and no other All-NBA representation. That is intimidating.

Most NBA champions are led by a true top-end superstar, and All-NBA voting is usually one of the clearest signs of who those players are. Building a top-end contender requires top-end talent. The Rockets’ top priority should be finding that level of player.

Will Amen Thompson or Alperen Sengun become superstars?

Houston has a couple avenues to achieve that goal. The first path is internal development. Amen Thompson and Alperen Sengun clearly have the highest ceilings among their young players.

Both players have obvious flaws. Sengun is far from a top-tier athlete and has not shown the ability to be a go-to scorer. Thompson's offensive game needs much more polish, and it remains to be seen if he will ever even be an average outside shooter.

Considering Thompson’s elite athleticism and his growth between each season, he is probably the team's best option to reach that top-end talent level. Sengun could still reach that level, but his production has mostly stagnated over the last three seasons.

Does Houston need to make a trade?

Houston’s second path would be a blockbuster trade. An opportunity to trade for one of the NBA’s elite players does not come along every season. When it does, it often comes with intense risk. Giannis Antetokounmpo is the obvious dream name, but even that kind of swing would come with risk, especially given how often injuries have shaped the end of his recent seasons.

Regardless of how Houston obtains that top-end player, they need that player to be considered a true contender. They are still probably at least a year away from needing to push all of their chips into the middle in a big trade.

Houston does not need to panic yet. Thompson and Sengun deserve another season to prove they can grow into something bigger. But the All-NBA voting made one thing obvious: if neither player takes that leap soon, the Rockets will eventually have no choice but to search elsewhere for the superstar their team still needs.

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