4 pressing questions Rockets must answer after All-Star break

2. Which young assets should be shipped off for a star?

After nabbing high-level young contributors, the Rockets find themselves in search of a superstar. Sure, Alperen Sengun has flashed potential to be the franchise player in spurts, but he’s not been consistent enough thus far to instill confidence in his ability to be the guy moving forward.

Maybe he gets there, maybe he doesn’t. Either way, the Rockets are looking for a closer, which they currently don’t have on the roster.

They also don’t have as much draft capital as before, as they’ve used several picks on Tari Eason and Cam Whitmore already.

In order for the Rockets to achieve their desired goal of landing a legitimate star, they’re going to have to get rid of at least one of their young assets. Hell, they were dangling Jalen Green just to reel in Mikal Bridges, who isn’t even a top-10 player (although he’s a good player).

If they really are trying to land a top-10 player (which might prove to be impossible) or even a top 15 player, the Rockets could have to ship out two of their young assets.

The challenge will be figuring out which two they’re willing to part with, especially for a Rockets front office that has generally held a higher regard for their players than the rest of the league does and/or has.