Alperen Sengun Has Joined Some Elite Company In His Fourth Season

The Houston Rockets finished the 2024-2025 NBA season at 52-30. That was their best win-loss record since the 2018-19 season. The 52 wins secured them home court in the first round and at least the first two rounds of the playoffs.

The Rockets have had quite the turnaround the last two seasons. Prior to Ime Udoka's arrival in 2023, the Rockets suffered through the three worst seasons in the franchise's history after James Harden wanted out of Houston following another disappointing playoff loss.

From 2020 to 2023, the Rockets only won 59 games. A few positives did come out of those down years. Mainly, the Rockets started to stockpile lottery picks. The Rockets were able to draft players like Jalen Green, Jabari Smith, Tari Eason, Amen Thompson, and, of course, Alperen Sengun.

All the players above have played a significant part in the Rockets' turnaround over the last two seasons. Sengun has explicitly shown that several teams made a mistake in the 2021 draft by passing on the Turkish superstar.

Even as the losses piled up early in Sengun's career, he continues to improve every season. In his first two seasons, Sengun was not a full-time starter under head coach Stephen Silas. Now, with Udoka in charge, Sengun has started every game in the last two seasons.

Even though Sengun's points per game dropped slightly this season, his overall improved play has been one of the main reasons for the Rockets' rise to the second seed. Sengun averaged a career high 10.3 rebounds and played the best defense of his career, which led to the first All-Star appearance of his career.

Sengun's 10.3 rebounds per game helped the Rockets have their best overall rebounding season in over 50 years. That isn't the only record Sengun was part of this season. Sengun finished as one of 13 players in league history to have scored at least 4,500 points, 2,400 rebounds and 1,100 assists within the first four seasons of their career.

Only five other players posted those numbers back to the 1979-1980 season, including Nikola Jokic and Larry Bird. Sengun's impressive numbers mean even more this season because they have led directly to Rockets wins.

Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun are the keys to the Rockets advancing in the playoffs. They came into the league together and have experienced the lows and highs throughout their careers. Sengun is the Rockets' offensive hub, and if he can continue to put up the same numbers he has all season, he can help the Rockets defeat the Warriors for the first time in franchise history.