The Rockets’ Alperen Sengun Is One Step Away From All-NBA

The Houston Rockets had one of their best seasons in the past five years, mostly led by All-Star big man Alperen Sengun. The talented center had one of his best seasons in the NBA, and he earned his first major accolade with the All-Star selection.

However, despite leading the Rockets to a top finish in the Western Conference, he earned no end-of-year awards or recognition for his performance. With some of the names ahead of him on the All-NBA third team, it's hard to see who he would replace from the list. It's proof that while Sengun is close, he still has another gear to reach before he can be an All-NBA caliber player.

Sengun's defense is already supporting his cause and helping him elevate his game.

He was active defensively throughout the season and guarded in various schemes. The Golden State Warriors, led by Stephen Curry, are the most natural predators of teams that employ drop-coverage centers. However, Sengun doesn't rely solely on drop coverage, picking up offensive players with blitzes and switches that help keep the rest of the defense organized.

It's interesting that for a player so gifted offensively, the place he could grow the most is likely through his scoring.

Sengun has never had issues scoring. This season, he was more than willing to take over offensively when the team needed more scoring. He is still the team's most gifted isolation scorer and creates offense for others by drawing double teams. His two-man game with guards like Fred VanVleet and Jalen Green took a step forward this year, unlocking more areas of the floor for him to do damage with his brutal backdowns and feathery touch from further away from the rim.

Despite his skills, many analysts still don't view Sengun as the type of player who can lead his team offensively purely through his scoring. His best features offensively come from his decision-making and expert passing, but it may have helped in the postseason if he could have taken more control of the offense and scored consistently when the Rockets needed it.

Sengun still can't do it on his own. His assist numbers would be much higher if Green, Dillon Brooks, Jabari Smith Jr., and VanVleet could hit more open shots from deliveries from their star big man. Increasing offensive stats like assists and scoring are the ideal way for Sengun to increase his stock and earn well-deserved recognition.