From unknown commodity to possible franchise anchor, Alperen Sengun is poised for a breakout season.
When he was selected with the 16th overall pick by the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2021, hardly anyone knew who Alperen Sengun was. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver didn’t even pronounce his name correctly. Two painstaking years, and one promising year later, Alperen Sengun is far from unknown. He’s become a household name and even picked up a few cool nicknames Like “Alpi”, “Baby Joker”, and “28 Savage”. Okay I made that last one up but isn’t that how most guys get nicknames anyway? Some writer usually makes them up, so let’s see if it sticks! Just remember who said it first.
Entering the 2024-2025 season Alperen Sengun is clearly the Houston Rockets best player. Before his injury last season, he had been the most consistent player and began putting his name in the “could be an All-Star” conversation, with his career high 21.1 ppg, 9.3 rebounds, and 5 assists per game.
Unfortunately, his young first round counterpart Jalen Green, was not seeing the same incline in production and consistency that Sengun was. It seemed as though it was difficult for the two to coexist at times during the season. In the few good games that Jalen did have early in the season, Alperen would struggle and rarely occurred that they would be able to “cook” at the same time.
The idea that they may not be a good fit became amplified when Jalen Green went absolutely berserk in the month of March after what ended up being Sengun’s season ending injury. In my opinion, that was one of the most unfortunate parts of Sengun’s injury is that he and Jalen had begun playing very well while on the floor together.
In the five games Sengun played in the month of March last season, he averaged 24 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists. In those same five games, Jalen averaged 23 points, just under 4 rebounds and slightly over 3 assists. The Rockets were 4-1 in that span, the last game being a win in Sacramento, which would be the beginning of a 10-game winning streak. Albeit a small sample size, the young duo showed that they could play together, and play winning basketball.
That will now be the standard for which 2024-2025 is judged. As for Sengun and his part, two preseason games have given zero indication that he will not continue his improvement toward being one of the best big men in the game. But just how good can he be? Is he a franchise cornerstone? That will need to be answered this season, because as most Rockets fans are aware, he is eligible for a five-year $224 million-max extension, and should he not receive that extension before season’s end, he will become a restricted free agent.
On the offensive end, there is no question Alperen Sengun has elite potential. Every season he has increased his rebounding averages as well. Last season Sengun had the 15th best defensive rating in the NBA with a 111.0 rating, a vast improvement over his 116.6 defensive rating the season prior. For reference, Giannis Antetokounmpo had a 111.8 defensive rating last season.
Houston Rockets fans know there is still room for him to get better defensively, and if we are being honest with ourselves, he needs to get better if he’s going to command the type of salary that it will likely take to keep him in a Rockets uniform for at least another five years. One thing fans, and more importantly Rockets coaches and GM Rafael Stone, have been able to depend on Sengun for is his work ethic.
This summer, the Rockets sent three player development staff members to Türkiye for seven weeks to help Sengun develop his game. Sengun looks stronger. Also, so far through two games, he is 15-for-16 from the free throw line. He has only attempted four three-pointers and hit just one of them so far this preseason, but Sengun has been and will continue to be looking to improve his percentage from behind the arc, as will pretty much everyone else on this team.
The @HoustonRockets invested in Alperen Şengün this summer, sending three player development staff members to Turkey for seven weeks
Tonight at 6:30, our Meet the Coaches series continues with Cam Hodges, who tells @SportsVanessa about the progress pic.twitter.com/8v6gUZBOAX
— Space City Home Network (@SpaceCityHN) September 9, 2024
If Sengun can continue to improve offensively, become at minimum a threat to hit open three-point shots, combine that with continued improvement on the defensive end of the floor, and be a general on the floor from the center position, then no doubt he will earn and deserve that max contract that he has expressed he wants to be from the Houston Rockets.
Alperen Sengun has gotten better every season he has played in the NBA. Rockets fans shouldn’t expect that anything will be different this season. To a man, each player on this team has expressed that this season, its playoffs or bust. Who would have thought back when Adam Silver was mispronouncing his name that “Alpi” would be the player that Rockets fans would be looking to lead this team back into the post season for the first time since 2020. It’s time for Sengun to embrace that role and recognize that he is the best player on this team and that it will go as far as he can take them. Hopefully that is at minimum well into April and maybe even into June.