Houston Rockets: Evaluating the progress of their 6 recent first-round picks

Houston Rockets: Alperen Sengun

The Turkish pro baller was originally projected to be a lottery pick. Instead, the Oklahoma City Thunder selected him 16th overall and then traded him to Houston on draft night. In Houston, Sengun went on to have a solid rookie season as their backup center.

Sengun took over Houston’s starting center spot this season after Bruno Fernando was injured and missed the majority of the season. Sengun operates mostly out of the low post and posts up in amounts comparable to Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, and Evan Mobley, who are some of the best centers in the league.

Compared to his rookie season, Sengun improved his stats quite a lot and is now averaging 14.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.1 blocks. His best game so far was a double-double with 26 points and 13 rebounds in a close loss against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Sengun is struggling a little defensively, as he is not very quick on his feet, but he is trying his best and certainly has room to grow. He might never be a great defensive big, but he can be decent enough to hold down the paint and not be a point of attack for opposing teams.

All in all, Sengun is following up an unspectacular but good rookie season by really delivering offensively as a starter for a young, developing team that is not necessarily trying to win every game just yet.