I am personally pretty confident that he will at least become an average perimeter shooter - if not better. He will also learn how to score out of double teams and likely continue to mold his body for a few years. Short of an injury, it would be surprising if he isn’t scoring at least 25 a night in a year or two. Guys that are as smart and Sengun, that have a strong work ethic and love the game tend to improve a long time. Like Harden or some others - the game comes easy to him. Think about it - that’s the difference between someone like a Jalen Green or even a promising player like Jabari Smith and Sengun… the game is natural to Sengun, it comes easy… same for Harden and LeBron and some others… they just work on something and it improves consistently.
The forcing Jalen won’t last forever. Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore are going to demand minutes next year. Amen Thompson is considering going with his brother to LA for the summer to work out with Harden and Durant/Westbrook. As for building around Sengun - you can call it that, I just think they need players that fit well together- and that means better shooting and unless the Rockets are confident in Amen, adding another perimeter creator.
Sabonis is like 1b on a team that had home court in the West last year and is a game and a half back from the 5 seed. And their 1a didn't at all look like he was at that level before Sabonis was his teammate. Luka wasn't even in the playoffs last year and is a game back from the Kings right now even with a decent supporting cast this year. If you added like Kawhi or Tatum to the Kings then they might be the best team in the league. You can't get too caught up in the "how does this work on a championship team" thing because odds say your are only winning a title once every 30 years anyways. If you've got good players you figure it out with them or trade guys who can't fit together. You don't move on from your best player at 21 years old when you are a 12 seed and don't have control of your pick for 3 years just because it's not a perfect championship archetype, even if he ends up being Sabonis. Now if you can trade him for Haliburton...
I was reading some CF posts from 2023. Holy crap. Never forget how vicious folks were towards HOUSTON DRAFTED Alperen Sengun. I'm not sure I have ever seen anything like it all my years following the Rockets. Going to be a long decade of Alperen putting their noses deep in the nutsack, because Udoka believes in him too. "That's just who he is..." Alperen puts noses in nutsacks, especially If you are a Spurm.
I don't doubt that they can be a great team. I mean they're already a great team. They definitely can be a legit playoff team, I just don't see them being a championship team. I think Sabonis puts a ceiling on your team. In the example you gave, if they got Kawhi or Tatum, now what's Sabonis role? I think you want to shift your offense, you don't want him with the ball as much, you want him doing a lot less scoring, less touches. And now at that point, especially in crunch time, you want to run everything through Fox and Kawhi. So...what's Sabonis role then? Do you even want him on the court in crunch time? Or would you rather let Fox and Kawhi cook while surrounding them with defenders who can shoot? So now you have a 3rd option who can't play in crunch time on a max contract? Is that really what you want? Couldn't you improve that team by getting rid of him for pieces that fit better with Fox and Kawhi? And I get that you probably disagree with at least some of what I just wrote, and that's fine. We don't have to agree and I'm not trying to derail this entire thread. But those are the kind of things I think about. And I think that there's a similar thought process when you think about a future with Sengun. And I'm going to reiterate, just to be clear, I am all in on Sengun and I think he is good enough to be that guy. I think the rockets should build around him. I'm just pushing back on the idea that it's super obvious, or that it's ridiculous to have reservations. I don't think it's as simple or clear as people are making it out to be.
I have always viewed Alperen as more of a cornerstone player than a franchise player. He should be locked into our long-term plans and we should be looking to add stars next to him.
Fox looks like a 1b as well......that is Sacramento Kings explained. Only perhaps has he developed the extra switch..... They have a great bench weapon in Monk.
I think a Fox-Kawhi-Sabonis team would be a legitimate championship contender. You would still run things through Sabonis because he sets nasty screens, does not turn the ball over, and most importantly, he can set an inversed offense that is unique and incredibly difficult to defend. He is one of the few bigs in the league who can master Princeton-esque responsibilities. Draymond, Jokic, Alperen... There aren't many others... He would greatly help Kawhi, as he greatly helped Fox. Add 3&D movers to those three and Sacramento would be rocking.
I think everybody is too concerned about semantics and etiquette, which are invented to simplify the game for masses, rather than the realization of it. Chill. We have great number of young talent on the team. We have one of the best coaches, probably. Our weakest link is our FO however I do not think they are incompetent to the point of sabotaging our future. If Alperen is good enough which I believe he is, he will emerge inevitably. Same for others. Talent and study carves its way.
For me, Sacramento are really are in the same spot as Minnesota was. They need a switchable rim protector so they can run a two bigs lineup part of the game and fix their defense. Sabonis also needs to keep working on his shooting and increase his volume, similar to what Brook Lopez and Al Horford did around his age. Now, there's not a Rudy Gobert out there for the plucking, but maybe they can find the next "that guy". A dude like Claxton might be a good fit for them if he can take the next step and break out into a strong all-defense type of player.
I think we need a few types of players around Sengun Shooters - it goes without explaining Weak side rim protectors - see Denver Nuggets Smart, high-feel dogs Moar creators
And if that's not true, it's because we're going to have multiple guys who rise to the level of MVP contenders (because I think that's the path Sengun is on). And wouldn't that be lovely?
Interview quote of the year: Post game after they beat the Spurs. Alperen Sengun - "I was talking to Fred and I was like God Dam# we're having a fight every night! and Fred was like I like, I love it!" That's the kind of players I want out there.
