Golden State Warriors: 5 options for pick No. 14 in 2021 NBA Draft

Golden State Warriors options for pick No. 14: 3. Alperen Sengun, C, Beşiktaş

Alperen Sengun is flying up draft boards, and there is more of a possibility that Sengun will be gone at pick No. 14 than any of the other players on this list. Yet opinions are still incredibly divided on the Turkish big man, and there is very much a chance he slides to the end of the lottery Thursday night.

Sengun is a 6’10” center who absolutely dominated the Turkish league this past season as an 18-year-old, winning MVP honors in a landslide. He is a walking 20 and 10, with incredible touch around the basket. His hands in particular are soft and accurate, helping him catch passes and rebounds and finish from anywhere near the rim.

An 80 percent free-throw shooter, Sengun can probably add an outside shot to his game; he wasn’t asked to do that yet because he is so good inside. When he doesn’t have the ball he is a solid screen setter.

Defensively there are more question marks for Sengun. He is a very good rebounder and has size inside to be a reasonable rim protector, but he has very little later agility and will struggle to defend in space. That doesn’t mean he can’t, as he did at times in the Turkish league, but against the better athletes in the NBA, it will be a challenge.

Sengun could be a dominant inside presence, or he could be just another center. As The Athletic’s John Hollinger is fond of saying, when a teenager is elite in high-level European competitions he has very little chance of failing. Sengun will have a chance to prove that and could replace James Wiseman if the team moves him for more short-term value.