Alperen Sengun 20 yo, 6'9", 235 lbs. Selected 16th in 2021 draft 2nd year in the NBA Contract https://www.spotrac.com/nba/houston-rockets/alperen-sengun-74123/ Stats https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/sengual01.html Summary Alpe has established himself as one of the better players on the Rockets but that doesn't really say much. He is a very polarizing player with both great strengths and great weaknesses. He's on a very team friendly contract and unless the right deal comes along to bring in a superstar I'd guess the Rockets intend to see his development through at least one extension. The Good His post up game, even the herky-jerky (Turkey jerky, come on guys it's funny) dribble drives are absolutely devastating opponents. He has a rare quality on the block, is able to hit cutters with passes and score seemingly at will against veterans like it's not that hard to do. Is it 2 decades too late? Or can the Rockets turn back time with a special talent? The Bad It's defense, insert Silas smacking the table gif. That and the player-only fans that defend every move he makes as though he were incapable of improvement (but that's not really his fault, just taking a shot at you whackadoos because I can). We could go with a lack of 3 point range but I don't feel that's even a quarter of the hindrance his defense is. Whether it's fouling too much, being out of position, not being able to step out to the perimeter, not a super shot-blocking threat nor charge taking threat... he just isn't good at defense. Tim Duncan was not a superior athlete either but he made up for it with instincts and mental chops. Alpe has to find that. Just Derp's Opinion Sengun is doing some really, really special things as a 20 year old but the Jokic comparison has worn so thin. He's not even close to that right now. There's not much reason to say you wouldn't see his development through. At the same time, I don't think I would say he's in the "core" or "big 3" or who I would build around until he proves himself as a defender. Without a meaningful development on defense, or a true MVP/Jokic level ascension on offense... I think they just hold on to him as an asset until that hypothetical star-for-trade comes along. I don't think a lot of folks are ready for how quickly he becomes a backup if we land Wembanyama. How he is absolutely going to take a back seat if we land Henderson. Sengun-only-fans are definitely hoping we walk out of the draft with Cam Whitmore or some other 5th pick type, so his biggest in-roster competition is still Kevin Porter Jr. Other [Player Assessment] threads by Derp: Kenyon Martin Jr. https://bbs.clutchfans.net/threads/player-assessment-kenyon-martin-jr.318936/
Alperen Sengun is a special, likeable player with a ton of potential. He seems like a mature kid who is focused on getting better. I wish some of the people that are trying so hard to live vicariously through him can take a step back and relax. However far he goes is all out of our hands; spamming online forums won’t help him any
Solid write up. Sengun, as good as he is, is sort of the worst of both worlds when it comes to how he plays. He's too small to bang with Jokic/Nurkic while not being fast enough to blow by those guys either. You can deal (sort of) with his player type if he's like...7-1 with a huge wingspan and can alter shots. But he can't. And he never will. That's the issue with him as it's always been. He would have to make a gargantuan leap offensively (basically be better Jokic) to mitigate that. He plays an incredibly important position defensively so it's really hard to "deal" with him being an enormous liability there. Unlike Luka/Harden who can at least be serviceable due to the position they play, Sengun as a negative defender is straight up disastrous. I'll be watching Jokic/Sabonis with a hopeful eye these playoffs to see how they fare.
It's because Sengun has gun in his name. This man may not be an NBA All Star but he's an NRA All Star for sure.
Extremely gifted offensive minded player. High iq passer and gr3at court vision. Under the right coach sengun could really shine. Great team player. I don't think he is able to become a carry and put up 30 pts a game or is better then harden currently. He lacks range and is hesitant to take jump shots. His defense needs improvement and that's putting it nicely. He puts in a lot of effort and hopefully it pays off. Not yet a franchise player at this stage of his career, but he is trending in a very positive direction. His mental game is strong even when he's being underutilized by silas. Folks wanting to trade sengun are short sighted folks who can't accept that an out of the norm center can succeed in the league also
If you want achieve some goal immediately,just trade him in this summer If you want get more in the long run,just keep him and being more patient
i just love your writing sooo much its too bad you are terrible at it...trash fans like you are the reason rockets are such a mess...
Nice writeup but I do think Sengun is special enough to build around. Yeah he has major defensive weaknesses, but at only 20 yrs old he has enough time to be passable on defense. Lots of big men havent been defensive aces but became stars of their team I can think of guys like Chris Webber, Sabonis (both of them), KaT, Demarcus Cousins and of course Shaq. Sengun is playing on a tanking team and saddled with one of the worst backcourts in the L along with Jabari who cant even shoot straight. However if you look at his stats its still pretty good and his pts are scored on a high efficiency. I do think we are selling him short he might not come close to Jokic but he can still be a star in his own right if given enough time to mature. Out of everyone in Houston I'm the most confident in Sengun breaking out to be a star player.
One day, with a new coach, posts like this one will be pure comedy gold for the short sightednes displayed by OP and the rest of the Sengoat haters.
Really like these player evaluation threads. but I’m in slight disagreement with Derp on this one. Yes his defense isn’t great, and yes the Jokic comparisons are misplaced. But he’s 20. Dude is 20. What he has, is hard to teach, and that makes me think there’s a lot more development to come. the passing, post skills, and Court awareness are very rare for someone at his age. He’s got decent handles for a big. Midrange, long range and defense are where he needs to work. I feel very good about his range shooting development prospects. If he puts that together over the next couple years, his offense will be elite. now for the defense. He’s doesn’t have quick feet. He’s going to have to rely on his bbiq to give him an advantage defensively. One thing that can help, he needs to trim down, improve his conditioning, and build up some muscle. And he needs to learn how to put himself in advantageous defensive positions. Will that happen? I agree it’s the big question that will determine Sengun’s ceiling. Can it happen? Why not? I don’t think it’s off the table that with hard work Sengun could become a decent defender. But it’s gonna be hard work and it’s gonna take some time so bottom line is, Sengun is our best player right now. While Jalen my have a bigger upside, he’s more of a question mark than Sengun in my opinion. I don’t know if the rockets have a franchise player on their roster, but Sengun is the closest thing right now. I don’t think you trade him for anything less than a bonifide YOUNG star. I do think he has the ability to eventually be a major pillar on a contender, and he’s gonna attract other talent who want to play with a versatile unselfish player with his skill-set. Imagine how good he’ll be at 24-25?
I disagree with the other names but C-Webb is a really good comp. And, he was a star, very fun to watch. But, how far can you go with C-Webb in the modern nba? I think that's what people are concerned with. Today, Sengun is our best player. And he may be better than anyone currently on the roster in the future. But, his style of play on offense will mean that everything must be built around him. Which is awesome if he is another Jokic. I would say not so awesome if he's Webber or worse. On defense, similar to Webber, he's not big enough to be a big time rim protector and not quick enough to be elite guarding in space. And, in today's nba teams rarely play 2 slower big guys like Webber had in the 90s. If you look say 7 years in the future and the Rockets are contenders, Jalen or Jabari or whoever could be #1 guys or they could be #8 guys. You can scale their roles very easily from primary scorer to spot up shooter to spot minute heat check player. Sengun is a primary post scorer/playmaker that will require the ball so you can't scale his role. He's either a focal point or not. But, this is really all future projecting. For right now, the Rockets should absolutely be exploring all Sengun can do. It would make sense to find out what he has potential to be while he's under a rookie contract. I actually think we should go full Senhub for the rest of the season not because I'm some SOF or even that I think it's the best way to play. I just think it will stretch Sengun and show what areas he can improve on ball. He knows he can improve his shot but how can he get better in the post and with decision making?
I love Sengun's game. We face the classic problem of a player who is very one-sided so what do you do? In my opinion a lot of people spend a whole player's youth focusing on their weaknesses when they should spend more time multiplying the strengths. For Sengun to be star-quality impact on the court, he will have to create A LOT of points. Similar to Harden, it would have been stupid to try to make him an excellent defender when it's entirely possibly he can be worth $30m+ by dominating one side of the court. You just have to be so good offensively that it's worth building a defense around you. If Sengun doesn't become that good, his career will be in limbo for some time. I know that his defense will improve and I'm hopeful he will be an above average defender eventually, but for the time being the biggest opportunity is his 3pt shot. If he turns into a pretty good 3pt shooter, it will improve his on court impact a lot. It raises his ceiling a lot. If you can post up really well, shoot and pass then you are going to consistently be an excellent offensive hub. He gets to the line, he hits his FT's. We need to focus on getting him more points and assists as soon as possible, I think his game can handle it. I really hope he comes back from the offseason in peak condition and with improved shooting ability.
I agree that Sengun is not exactly Jokic but a slightly thinner and smaller Jokic Domantas the Dream blend, traits of all those players. A unique one and his name shall be Alperen Sengün the First of his Name. I think Jalen is the flashy goon and clutch scorer and Sengün is the one that calms the game down. Both types are needed on a team.
