Alperen Sengun was one of the reasons why Kevin Durant wanted to come to Houston in the first place. Well, not directly, but Durant did say that he liked the young core the Rockets are building, which included not just Sengun, but also Amen Thompson and Jabari Smith Jr., among others.
But Sengun is hands down the cornerstone of what the next decade should look like for the Rockets. He is currently leading his national team, Turkey, at the FIBA EuroBasket, garnering major praise from several players along the way.
Kendrick Perkins, Durant’s former teammate from the OKC Thunder, was also one of the people who were thoroughly impressed with Sengun’s performance at EuroBasket. Perkins went as far as to say Sengun is now a top-five center in the NBA.
“He is a top-five big man in the NBA. You know why? Not just because of the points, not just because of the rebounds and the assists. But he actually plays defense at a high level. Watch and see how great he is in the pick-and-rolls. Forcing, hedging out his traps, being able to switch one through five and slide those damn puppies,” said Perkins on ESPN’s NBA Today.
NBA Today’s crew was discussing the comments from Sengun’s Turkish teammate, saying that Sengun is already above Joel Embiid in his eyes, when Perkins backed up Furkan Korkmaz’s comments.
“Alperen Sengun is the real deal. There’s a reason why we have the Rockets so high as far as being championship contenders. In my eyes, they are right there under OKC, knocking at the door. And a big reason is not just because of KD and Amen Thompson, it’s because they have a top-five big man in the league in Baby Jokic.”
Alperen Sengun is currently averaging 21.6 points, 10.9 rebounds, and 7.1 assists per game for Turkey at the 2025 EuroBasket as they prepare to face Greece in the semi-final of the competition.
He became the first active All-Star to play for the Rockets since James Harden left after earning his first nod last season. The Rockets’ star averaged 19.2 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 4.9 assists in the 2024-25 season.
Sengun has been working hard to build his own identity in the NBA. While he appreciated the comparisons to Jokic early in his career, he said that eventually he wants to be recognized for being himself and not a younger version of Jokic.
In my opinion, Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo are the only centers in the NBA at the moment who are better than Sengun. He has already surpassed the likes of Rudy Gobert, Domantas Sabonis, and Karl-Anthony Towns. Do you agree with Perkins? Is Alperen Sengun a top-five center in the NBA right now? Let us know what you think in the comments section.
