[ClutchFans] Houston Rockets Prospects Power Rankings – Volume 1

Solid article. Not much to disagree on anywhere. Nix lower than Garuba a bit surprising, but I think the case can certainly be made.

 

By end of the season, Sengun will be #2 right behind JG. I think KMJ should be higher. Jaesean shouldn't be on this list.

 

We don't talk about Bruno.....lol.

DD

 

Pretty much agree except on the following,
1) I have Garuba, Nix, and TyTy lumped together as guys that need to improve with Martin behind them as a guy that appears blocked. This might be unfair to Martin, but I expect Smith and Tari to be better defenders and provide similar if not better spacing on offense by end of the season.
2) On KPJ, he can be either a more consistent, efficient scorer or become a more consistent, efficient playmaker (i.e., higher Ass/To). I don't really care how a player provides value as long as the value they provide isn't mostly negated by negative plays when things don't work out.
3) I'm sure I don't consider Tate a prospect.

I really like the top 4 guys. I'm trying really hard not to become too much of a homer on Eason, but I have him slightly above Sengun as well. This may be because of fit, though. I worry about defense and turnovers with Sengun. I see it being a tough fit with Sengun and KPJ because of the turnovers, and I worry about defense with Green. I also don't know if Smith will be a center long term or not. I think Sengun could be a monster on offense, though. It would not surprise me if Sengun is the engine to the offense this season.

 

This ranking won't age well.

If Rick Barry made the list Alpi would be top 3, likely #2 after JGreen. Anyone put Alpi top 3 is understandable but ranking him lower than Tari is a delusion.

https://www.fiba.basketball/eurobasket/2022/playerstats

This is the list of efficiency in Eurobasket22. Within 288 international players (256 listed here) Alpi is #7. The other 6 are Giannis,Jokic,Vezenkov,Doncic,Markkanen and Valanciunas.Higher than lots of NBA veterans and Euroleague stars such as Sabonis, Wagner,Micic,Gobert,Nurkic,Zubac,Cedi,Bitadze,Korkmaz,..and you rank him lower than Tari.

Seeing Alpi temporarily lower than Markkanen and Valanciunas is heart-breaking, seeing Alpi ranked lower than Tari is something beyond my understanding. We even don't know whether Tari will play in G-League or in NBA for the next few months.


https://www.fiba.basketball/eurobasket/2022/playerstats

Meanwhile this is the list rebs per game. Alpi #7 again, 8.8 rebs/game, not very much away from Rudy Gobert (9.0 rebs/game), Giannis (10.3) and Jokic (10.5). It might give some ideas for the coming season.

 

I wouldn't count Tate as a prospect either. He's kind of like Beverley. There's a reason why these guys didn't make an NBA team until much older. They are limited. The only thing Tate might be able to improve is probably shooting. Even that is kind of iffy. He would be an okay bench player on a good team.

Martin is just in an unfortunate situation. His skillset just doesn't excel over other guys in the same position.

Sengun is a special case. I believe he has a very high ceiling. But how much he can realize his potential is very tricky. It depends largely on how he is used and how his teammates can fit around him. He is not good enough to be the focal point of the offense. But he needs to be the focal point to maximize his skills. This season is extremely important for his development. I'd say maybe even more important than KPJ's. This is going to be the last season for experimenting without much regard to winning. They can try something with Sengun on offense to see how he can handle and how the team can fit. I REALLY hope that he will turn into a gem of a star.

Green and Smith just need time. No worries there.

Tari is another uncertain case. In a way, he is like Sengun, high ceiling but needs to see how he develops. He has all the tools to be great. But there are players who have all the tools but for some reasons can't put them together and never quite excel.

 

Eason over Sengun is baffling to me.

Tari overperformed expectations in Summer League but Sengun is balling out in Eurobasket in the more intense competition of country-representing basketball.

I don't understand the repeated concern over Sengun's athleticism either. He can play above the rim. loves to dunk and has a knack for recovering fast and blocking shots after a guard gets past him on the perimeter. And that's not even mentioning that he's got the best passing touch of any big man outside of Jokic.

 

I think Sengun has a higher ceiling but as of now his ability to “fit” into an NBA team seems more restrictive. Tari seems like the type of guy whose best assets could easily fit just about anywhere.

 

But could we talk about Fernando the twin?

 

It doesn't baffle me but I would put Sengun above him because of more experience but I can see Tari getting close, it's a list of potentials.

If you are doing this list with 27 yr olds of course achievements and stats play a larger role.

Now the interesting aspect is with Jabari on Offense if you have higher expectations because he was the third pick and it is easy to be underwhelmed here as a rookie. Plus few veterans on this team to look up to now.

I think Alperen is more athletic than Joker. The lack of athleticism really hinders latter in the deeper playoffs.
They are not the same, Joker is bigger, less mobile and better shooter on any accounts.

 

I chortled to see KPJ getting the Paolo treatment by Dave good stuff!

(to exclude Scooter from the "players of the future" discussion is brash I'll give you that!)

 

This.

Sengun's skillset is very special. It takes special fitting to make it work--unless his talent just explodes into the scene like Jokic did. This is why his future is so unpredictable. With Jabari on board, I am less worried about his defense. I think he will learn to be at least decent enough.

Eason is the kind of player every team can use. He is like a lesser version of Jabari (smaller, less disciplined on defense, less accurate shooting, but faster and more athletic), a two-way guy that fits any squad on both ends.

 

This may be weird to say, but I think Sengun likely has a higher floor and a higher ceiling than Tari, but Tari is more likely to hit close to his ceiling than Sengun.

 

While I don't disagree that there's a case for Sengun ahead of Eason and I'd probably put him there personally, I think you're putting a LOT of weight on a 5-game sample size in a completely different league. Yes, Eurobasket is an incredibly competitive basketball environment in which Sengun is thriving. It's also a 5-game sample size in a completely different environment playing with and against some guys who'd have zero shot at making an NBA roster.

I love Alpi and it's been fun watching him kill it in this league, but let's chill a bit before we start crowning him based on this. Just like I wouldn't be drooling over Eason's Summer League performance, let's give these guys time to develop first. And Clutch makes some good points about the holes in Sengun's game and the lack of them in Eason's.

 

Sengun super fans are triggered.

 

If you consider me as one of superfan I would like to declare that I believe J Green is better player than Sengun. J Green first, Alpi second, KPJ third, Jabari fourth for me. Tari is not in the conversation yet. We are talking about starters and Tari would be third option after Eric Gordon and Tate.

J Green is a clear leader now and anyone put KPJ and Jabari ahead of Alpi understandable but Tari? I like Josh Christopher, Nix and Bruno but it doesn't mean that I can rank any of them higher than starting quartet.

P. S. JGreen+Alpi+KPJ+Jabari super fan.

 

Rockets don't want him hence no extension