Rockets GM Rafael Stone on Alperen Sengun’s growth: “We traded two first-round picks to get him, and we wouldn’t have done that if we didn’t see somebody who could be this type of impactful player.”
After drafting Jalen Green at No. 2 overall in the NBA’s 2021 draft class, the Houston Rockets then traded two future first-round picks to acquire a second selection at No. 16, which was used to draft Alperen Sengun.
Those two then became the early cornerstones of Houston’s rebuilding movement. Green is no longer in Houston, since he was a primary part of the recent trade package to acquire All-Star forward Kevin Durant, but Sengun remains.
As an All-Star in his fourth season, Sengun has already far exceeded the usual production from his draft slot. But one person who doesn’t seem particularly surprised is Rockets general manager Rafael Stone.
In an interview with ESPN Radio’s Houston affiliate (97.5 FM), Stone said Sengun’s professional resume prior to the NBA was on par with two future Hall of Famers.
He was the MVP of the Turkish league, which is definitely a top-four or top-five league in the world. There are guys making $5 million or $6 million per year, really good players. When you watch the Olympics or the world championships and you watch these guys play, there will be NBA players sprinkled in… and all these guys look like the NBA guys. There’s not a difference. Those guys are playing professionally.
And he was the MVP of that league at 18 (years old). The only two people who have had comparable success in top-tier leagues are (Nikola) Jokic — who had it the year after he was drafted, so kudos to Denver because they drafted him before he dominated his league — and Luka (Doncic). It’s a good indicator. And then just watching film, he does special stuff.
In scouting reports from before the 2021 draft, the primary questions with Sengun surrounded his defense and mobility.
But Sengun and the Rockets have worked diligently on his body over the four years since, and he’s become far more explosive and in better physical condition.
Combine that development with his gifts as a low-post scorer and playmaker, and All-Star seasons become the result. Best of all, Sengun’s statistics seem to be correlated with winning, as Houston (52-30) finished last season with the second-best record in the Western Conference.
“He’s hit the upside of what we hoped, but we definitely saw it,” Stone said when asked if Sengun has exceeded expectations. “We traded two first-round picks to get him, and we wouldn’t have done that if we didn’t see somebody who could be this type of impactful player.”