I'm excited about Sengun too but feel like we need to manage expectations. He's not gonna be great in his first year as a rookie, not many players are in their first year. Definitely think he has chance to be special in the long run but just worry he'll go from underrated to overrated too quickly. Think we'll see flashes but he won't shine too much especially with potential ROY candidate on his very own team. He might post pretty average averages like a 9 ppp and 6 reb, with higher numbers coming towards the end of the year
I would be elated if he poster those numbers. I am very high on him, but I do not expect a smooth first year. I am not convinced he will get many minutes.
I'm not happy with him deciding to skip the rest of the summer league and to spend time in Turkey. I know he will be back before the start of the training camp.
Agreed. 9 and 6 would be a pretty good sign for such a young big. Just for comparison, here are pts / rebounds of other very competent NBA center in their rookie year Valanciuas - 8.9 / 6 Gobert - 2.3 / 3.4 Nurkic - 6.9 / 6.2 Capela - 2.7 / 3.0 Sabonis - 5.9 / 3.6 Drummond - 7.9 / 7.6 Jarrett Allen - 8.2 / 5.4 Vucevic - 5.5 / 4.8 Of course there are standouts that made impacts in their first season, but rare Ayton - 16.3 / 10.3 AD 13.5 / 8.2 Porzingis 14.3 / 7.3 Dwight 12.0 / 10.0 Duncan 21.1 / 11.9 (what a beast).
Sabonis was on a completely different level than Sengun..... Sabonis was likely the best basketball player in the world for a number of years when he was not eligible to come over to the NBA.
It's really a shame that he and Drazen did not get to come over until later or that their that potential was cut short. Nobody ever saw the real Sabonis that was a beast. Those two players and to a much lesser extent Kukoc are the foundation for why we have Dirk, Doncic, Joker, Giannis, Ibaka, and the new crop of guys like Sengun.
I believe the very much needed family time will do wonders for his mental and spiritual well being before embarking on his NBA journey. The season can be a grind, and the world's already been upside down as of late thanks to covid. I say sneak that essential family time in whenever you can. If anything I think he'll be more diligent with working on whatever routine or game plan the coaches have given him to work/brush up on as he'll actually be happy. And a happy Sengun is a wonderful sight to behold.
exactly From what many posters have told me here. Stone was playing 4d chest and knew that his allen trade would make KPJ throw lasangna at koby altman and he also knew koby altman would give those two players closer lockers and move green back. Based on that complicated transaction, I suspect we sent him home to turkey to plant a seed of rockets fandom or just coyote that big ass kid behind him back to houston. Either way. I'm for it, any means necessary its not like other teams wait till 6 to make deals.
He needs family time, but he should have played against Portland. If the Rockets weren't planning to play him in the last game, then it's a different situation. I know Sengun twitted a happy message on the Rockets win over Portland from Turkey. That was nice.
Out of all those guys, only one was 18 yrs old as a rookie...Gobert. Most of those guys were at least 20.
They do have similar games though. Much moreso than Alp/Domantas... Give Sengun 2-3 years...I'll bet he puts on an inch or two. And, we know he's going to be Thicc. I'll take a smaller version of Big Daddy Sabonis.....anyday. Because, THAT IS our boy's likely ceiling. Anything close to that is awesome.
