Houston Rockets: ESPN’s Top 100 Players List Identify Team’s Most Important Player

The Turkish big man was a revelation last season, providing an offensive skillset reminiscent of Nikola Jokic. While the team barely missed the play-in tournament, he’s a huge reason behind the buzz surrounding Toyota Center.

Picking up from Sengun’s stellar performance, ESPN gave him a promising rank in their most recent NBA rankings.

Houston Rockets’ Alperen Sengun breaks into ESPN’s Top 100 Players list at #54

ESPN released the first half of their list of the best 100 players in the association. They put into consideration the players’ performances last season and their development over the offseason before deciding on which players casual fans should look out for.

Sengun, who didn’t feature on the list last year, was deemed valuable for the Rockets that they gave him an outstanding rank. They explained their logic behind the decision:

Coming off his best season, Sengun averaged career highs in points (21.1), rebounds (9.3), assists (5.0) and steals (1.2) on the way to finishing third in voting for NBA Most Improved Player. Along the way, Sengun became the second-youngest Rocket behind Jalen Green in 2022-23 to average 20 or more points in a season. Houston sent three player development staffers to work with Sengun for nearly seven weeks over the summer in his native Turkey, and the club came away even more optimistic about his prospects for the season. The staff focused heavily on Sengun’s preparation and believes he has become a more mature player.

Sengun placed 15 spots above Jalen Green, who last year was ranked at 80. Their rise through the rankings shows how well the duo and the rest of the young Rockets roster developed Ime Udoka last season.

If Alperen Sengun and Green continue their upward trajectory, it wouldn’t be strange to see the Rockets make the play-in tournament and maybe sneak into an automatic playoff berth. While all of this still depends on how the team develops throughout the season, the sky’s the limit for these young Rockets.