Alperen Sengun is one of the most exciting young players in the NBA right now. At just the young age of 23, he has already drawn a lot of comparisons to Nikola Jokic in his career due to his versatility and playmaking vision. He always wanted to come out of Jokic’s shadow and build an identity of his own. It seems he has finally done it.
Sengun is currently leading Turkey at EuroBasket and has helped them qualify for the semifinals after beating Poland 91-77 in the quarterfinals. Following the quarter-finals match-up, his Turkish teammate Furkan Korkmaz had major praise for him.
“Until now, I thought Joel Embiid was the best player, the best center that I played with. But I think we can tell it’s Alperen now.”
“So it’s great to be around him, he’s enjoying playing basketball. He helps us a lot on the court, defensively and offensively. I think he’s a special kid, every day he’s trying to give his maximum. And this year we are also seeing he’s playing aggressive defense too, not only offense.”
“That gives us a lot of confidence in the front court that we pressure the ball well. He’s helping us in different ways, and I hope that he still has a long way to go. He still has to grow a lot, and we’re going to see much better basketball from him every year going forward.”
Korkmaz played for the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA for seven seasons from 2017 to 2024. He witnessed Joel Embiid’s prime and MVP award-winning season, and yet seems to believe Sengun has a higher ceiling than that. Turkey is now set to face Giannis Antetokounmpo and the two-time champions, Greece, in the semi-finals at EuroBasket.
Sengun became an All-Star for the first time in his NBA career in 2024-25. While sources claimed the Rockets were willing to trade him for Giannis Antetokounmpo this summer, their front office reaffirmed their faith in him by trading Jalen Green instead of him to get Kevin Durant while maintaining that Sengun and Amen Thompson are untouchable in that trade.
Therefore, it seems that even NBA veterans are seeing what the Rockets’ front office saw in Sengun while trading for him on draft night.
Sengun became the youngest player in EuroBasket history to post a triple-double in the competition with his 19 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists against Poland. Alperen Sengun is currently one of three NBA players who are among the favorites to win the FIBA EuroBasket MVP award, alongside Antetokounmpo and Luka Doncic. He is currently averaging 21.6 points, 10.9 rebounds, and 7.1 assists per game at EuroBasket.
If Sengun leads Turkey to a EuroBasket title by potentially beating both Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Greece and Luka Doncic’s Slovenia in the Finals, does he deserve the MVP award? And is Sengun just one MVP award away from surpassing Joel Embiid in NBA history? Let us know what you think in the comments section.
