Biggest obvious change coming for Rockets after Christian Wood trade

The Houston Rockets have finally moved on from Christian Wood. With that opening created, it is now time for the Alperen Sengun show to officially begin.

The Houston Rockets must be feeling very confident about Alperen Sengun and their upcoming lottery pick.

Christian Wood was always going to be off the team in a year at most, but the decision to cut bait just before the draft after the season we just saw from the Rockets says everything.

The team with the worst record in the NBA last year is moving on from one of their most productive players. Now, there is an opening on the roster for a new starter at the five, and that guy is obviously Alperen Sengun.

It is finally time for the Rockets and the rest of the NBA world to see what Houston actually has in the exciting prospect from Turkey. We saw flashes last year in limited starts and minutes, and Rockets fans can rest assured that they are going to see much more than 13 starts and 21 minutes per game.

The Rockets have finally leaned in to the idea of going young across the board as they are in the process turning around this full rebuild.

The good news for Houston is that it will be hard to be much worse than they were last year. Even a young group headlined by Jalen Green, Sengun, and the rookie should be able to piece together as many or more wins as in 2021.

There were times last season where Sengun looked like he could be an All-Star if he could just get minutes. It looks like he is finally getting that opportunity.

Whether or not this is the right move for the present remains to be seen. Getting younger and leaning into a rebuild is obviously a good step to getting back to where the Rockets were at a few years ago, but the team did just get worse by losing one of their few consistent contributors and a veteran leader.

Hopefully Sengun and the rookie are up for the task of manning the role down low.

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