Completely reworked my stance on Sengun. I want to be on the right side of history on this one, and 19 year olds dominating grown men internationally tend to work 100% of the time. There is no way this dude fails Completely, and I trust him to use his high skill levels to make a star role in the league. Gotta work on defense but I advise you all to rework your stances on this dude. He’s gonna work out.

Comparison: Jokic LITE LITE LITE

Ceiling: Domantas Sabonis +

Floor: Younger Nurkic

END OF TIER 3

Alperen Sengun is the most underrated prospect in this draft IMO. Look, I know the game is moving away from the post but he has potential to pass out of the post kind of like Domantas Sabonis. He can rebound and scores at an efficient clip. He''s not yet a floor spacer, but a near 80% free throw clip says that he can space the floor for a team one day, which is an area of need for a post player. The comparison for me is Sabonis but with better rim protecting. Dominating a professional league with grown men sure helps your draft stock. The Rockets are a perfect landing spot for him and he has grown to 6-11 reportedly and dominating a professional league is still dominating a professional league regardless of talent lows.

Projected draft range: 10-20

Height 6'9 Weight 240 lbs Wingspan 7'0

Offense

• Surprisingly polished post game for 18, he is very strong already.

• Advanced at getting position for himself inside. Makes himself a great target.

• Great balance.

• Spin baseline is his go to move. Nice baby hook.

• As a roll man he has good feel. Should be a real threat here.

• Has the ability to put the ball on the floor outside, if he tightens his handles even more it will be hard to say who can/will guard him.

• Instincts put him in most plays.

• Likes to FLUSH the ball down with a hammer.

• A handful with his constant movement and physicality.

• Has shown glimpses of advanced reads passing out of the post.

• Intriguing playmaker overall. Advanced reads from up top and perimeter as well.

• Second effort allows him to clean up his own misses inside. EYE POPPING 5.2 offensive boards per 36.

• Overall he shows glimpses of every skillset while still being a primarily interior player.

• Perimeter shooting looks nice for the small sample size, will definitely be a developing aspect of his game. 81 FT% is highly encouraging.

• Gets to the line 7.9 times per 36.

• Overly right handed.

• Good in the open floor and in transition.

• Does not shy away from being physical.

Defense

• Active hands for a big - probably earns him better than average in the steals department.

• May be an above average shot blocker.

• Defensive technique and footwork was not there in space. Lacks agility.

• Perimeter defense and drop coverages looks like a concern, but I wouldn't rule out these skills being able to reach competence just yet. Some nice chasedown and recovery blocks due to positive mobility.

• Lacks the length and height to guard pure centers?

• STRONG, good verticality, and body control.

• Made the right rotations and was active.

• While he isn't a positive defender yet there is some upside.

Swing Factors

• Perimeter Shooting - If he expands his range all of the sudden everything is in play and he becomes absolute nightmare to gameplan for.

• Defense - So focused on dominating everyone offensively that maybe some of the upside here didn't show up, but if that's not the case and he's a below average defender in all possible areas, he becomes a much more one dimensional player. Still possible he grows?

Role

• A versatile scoring big who aides his team in countless ways offensively.

• LOW: Sengun's shot doesn't materialize, and he struggles to defend bigs. He relies on strength, offensive boards, a solid post game and IQ for buckets. There is still a role for him in the end of a rotation as a rare skilled post scorer.

• HIGH: Offensively everything comes together, shooting, playmaking and handle to aid his fabulous post game and offensive rebounding. He continues to dominate surprising the league as an absolute up and coming force for years to come. Defensively Sengun shows he can competently handle drop coverages, and defend in space rendering him an average or tick above defender. He becomes a premiere big and perennial all star.

Tier 3 Floor - high production back up center Bullseye - offensive hub Ceiling - Perennial all star and potentially all NBA

OFFENSE

Pass - Grade: 89 Notes: Excellent passer. Potential is there to be an offensive hub (Jokic/Bam/Vuc/Sabonis/Gasol). Great passer out of the elbows and post, amazing at finding cutters. Brings the ball up and initiates actions regularly. Creative with his deliveries, likes no looks and behind the back passes. Can be careless with his passes and throw them to soft, or try a behind the back pass into a short window that gets stolen. All his turnovers are a result of his high level vision, and him being a bit to confident in it. His vision is very high level though, and he really is great at finding the open man and seeing all 9 other guys on the floor.

Dribble - Grade: 85 Notes: Sengun has a very good handle for a big. He's got an actual arsenal of perimeter dribble moves, and if comfortable handling the ball on the perimeter. He is good at using his dribbles in an effective manner to get to the rim. His handle is pretty tight and very advanced for his position, and he can genuinely handle it and make plays in the open court and when slashing from the perimeter.

3pt shooting - Grade: 70 Notes: Sengun barely ever attempted threes, but his form looked good when he did and there's a lot of signs that project him to be at least a decent 3 point shooter. He has amazing touch from mid-range and around the rim, great form, and shot over 80% from the line.

Mid-range shooting - Grade: 85 Notes: Sengun is already a very good mid-range shooter. Great form, smooth stroke and good shot selection.

Finishing - Grade: 99 Notes: Sengun is the most crafty finisher in the draft. He's a low post phenom, with a bag deeper than 99% of NBA players. He has jaw-dropping footwork, with unbelievably quick pivots and an unteachable knack for feeling his defender behind him. He does not predetermine his moves, and has a seemingly limitless arsenal of elite post moves ready to go based off of what the defense is giving him. He's elite at up and unders, shot fakes, spins, hooks with either hand, and finishing through contact. He's already elite at getting his defender in the air and drawing fouls, where he's a great shooter. His touch around the rim is elite, and so is his ability to finish through contact. Sengun is not all finesse though. Sengun is great in the PnR, and has very good hands and leaping ability. Sengun is a genuine lob threat coming off the roll, and is great at finishing out of the short roll as well. He's got an unbelievable feel for how to finish, and an unbelievable ability to convert. A truly special all around finisher.

Off-ball playmaking - Grade: 91 Notes: Sengun is a fierce and effective screener, and prolific and relentless offensive rebounder. He is solid at relocating and clearing space for drivers. Good at creating space for himself and others using his physicality.

Offensive Summary: 96 Sengun's game being as advanced as it is at the age of 19 is absurd. There's a reason he won MVP in the second best league in Europe at just age 19. He plays 10 years older than he is. Sengun also plays with an incredible passion and spirit for the game, he's a great competitor. His footwork, IQ, ability to draw fouls, post game, playmaking ability, and finishing are insanely polished. He's going to be a high volume scorer and double double getter right away. I believe he's got real potential to develop in a 3 point shooter, and eventually become an offensive hub. His offensive ceiling is limitless. He is only 6'10, but his motor and athleticism make up for it, and that also makes him one of the best offensive rebounders in the draft. He's the most developed and polished offensive player in the draft. He is so crafty, talented, and smart is really fun to watch.

Defense

Engagement - Grade: 90 Notes: Sengun, while not always the most effective defender, has a high motor and is very engaged. There's no debate on whether or not Sengun is lazy or if he is engaged.

Containment - Grade: 60 Notes: Sengun cannot defend in space. It's a real issue and a serious defensive limitation. He is rather athletic and has an ok base, so there is hope for him to be able to make significant improvements as an on-ball defender. He struggles to stay in a defensive stance and move his feet, and cannot be switched onto guards at all. His technique needs serious, serious improvement. His feet appear to be glued to the floor at times and he gets caught reaching often. He is limited to almost exclusively drop coverage right now, but I expect him to able to hedge and recover sooner rather than later which could be an effective bandaid on some of his bigger issues as a defender.

Team Defense - Grade: 80 Notes: Sengun is an active off-ball defender. He does have a high motor and IQ, and he plays hard. He is very vocal and calls out coverages. He is good at rotating down low and playing help, and is typically in position of ball. He's got active hands is good in the passing lanes for a big.

Rim Protection - Grade: 82 Notes: Sengun is actually a pretty good shot blocker and post defender. Sengun has good timing on his contests, and has solid length and athleticism to be effective. He is not good at recovering from the perimeter to block or mirror contest, but he is effective at meeting guys at the rim. He can struggle to stay vertical at times, and will foul at times when it's unnecessary.

Playmaking - Grade: 85 Notes: Sengun has a very good stock%. Sengun averaged 1.3 steals and 1.7 blocks per game this season. While he is flat footed at times, he's active and has a high motor. He has active hands and gets steals and deflections due to his solid anticipation. He's an athlete with a high motor and good IQ, resulting in him being a pretty good defensive playmaker.

Versatility - Grade: 60 Notes: Sengun cannot guard perimeter players at all right now, therefore making his versatility extremely poor.

Defensive Rebounding - Grade: 85 Notes: Sengun is a physical and ferocious rebounder, but often compromises his position and ability to box out due to him over selling on a contest, or him being involved in a PnR and trailing the play. His motor and aggression make him a very good overall rebounder though.

Defensive Summary: 75 Notes: Sengun actually has a lot of very good defensive traits, but his biggest weakness is one that is constantly exposed in the NBA, and he's very weak at it. Sengun is athletic with a high motor and good IQ, making him an active and productive off-ball defender and rim protector. Sengun just can't defend in space at all, and it hurts more because he isn't necessarily a true 5 but more of a 4.5. Sengun's technique is very poor when defending in space, so there is hope with proper teaching and development that he can improve in this area significantly. I think his defensive concerns, although very very real and legitimate, are talked about too much in terms of the type of player Sengun can become.

Measurables: 76 18 6'10 240 (very strong) 7'0.5 wingspan

Functional Athleticism: 75 Solid open court speed, good at running the floor hard Solid vertical leap Extremely poor vertical quickness

General Thoughts: Sengun may fall in the draft because his weaknesses are one's that have been exposed in recent years in the NBA. Sengun is a 6'9 center who is poor at defending in space. That statement will be why a lot of teams are low on him, despite him being an extremely talented, young prospect. At 18 years old, Sengun won MVP of a league featuring 30 former NBA players. Sengun does not play like an 18 year old in the slighest. His footwork is years and years beyond his age, along with his offensive IQ. He's a gifted scorer from the post, and can create offense from the low and high post. He can handle the ball in transition, and he's a great passer. Sengun averaged 19 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 steal and 1 block in the Turkish Super League this season. Sengun shot a very impressive 66% from the field and 82% from the line. Sengun is also a great offensive rebounder averaging over 4 offensive boards per game. Sengun does not have the physical build one might guess. Although Sengun does struggle quite a bit defending in space, he's not a poor athelete. He's actually pretty good at running the floor and has an impressive standing vertical jump. While Sengun is flawed on the defensive end, that does not mean he is ineffective. He rotates pretty well in help and times his contests very well. He's great at fully extending his arms and timing his jump, and he's got a quick second jump as well. Sengun's defensive lapses are not due to a lack of effort or attentiveness, which are reasons to be encouraged. Teams potentially being scared off because of the possibility of him being exposed in a playoff series in high PnR or the possibility of him being tasked with guarding an Embiid/Jokic type are situational. The truth is Sengun will be effective in the vast majority of his matchups and will absolutely be effective in the regular season. Sengun's offensive skill set is extremely impressive. Sengun is a very unique prospect as he can do so much on the offensive end. Sengun is a lob threat, great in the short roll, can pop, can handle the ball on the perimeter, operate out of the high or low post, score in isolation (facing up or in the post), pass out of double teams, operate in DHO actions, and has a great feel for the game and ability to read the defense. Sengun is a good screen setter and very good offensive rebounder, he can truly do it all on the offensive end. Sengun did not shoot threes in the Turkish league, but his shooting stroke is very clean and when he has shot them they've looked good. I'm not sure that he will add that to his game right away but if he did I'd bet on him being able to shoot at least 30% from deep out of the gate. Sengun's game is already so developed that I believe he will contribute off the bench right away. I think his floor is a low level rotation player on a decent team, the role Dario Saric is serving for Phoenix. But I'd bet on Sengun being better than Saric due to his athleticism and versatile scoring ability. I'm not sure Sengun can be the starting center on a finals team, but I'd bet he can be a productive player on a finals team. Sengun is just unbelievably talented on the offensive end in ways that other prospects are not. It's incredibly rare to see a player, especially a big, be so skilled on offense at such a young age. I don't recall too many prospects being able to attack a closeout and finish with euro step from the perimeter, have a deep bag of post moves with elite footwork and great touch around the rim, be extremely versatile and effective in the PnR, and have a ton of intangibles at just 18 years old. I like Sengun's fit in Sacramento at 9, Golden State at 7, NOLA at 10, Charlotte at 11, and San Antonio at 12. I wouldn't be surprised to see Sengun fall out of the lottery, but he's just so talented that I'd bet at least one team would take a chance on Sengun. Sengun is only 18 and could be in almost if not every NBA team's regular season rotation immediately, and that statement alone makes him worthy of him being a lottery pick. Sengun needs to land in a situation that understands the type of player he is, and I hope whoever selects him allows Sengun to play his game. Sengun landing in the right spot will be very important to the start of his career.

I LOVE SENGUN! He can pass,shoot,and play D. He has a Jokic level potential or if he doesn’t reach his potential he might be a Enes Kanter type. He does have to work a lot on his defense and defensive IQ but sky the limit for him

Peak stats- 21PPG 10PPG 4APG

Alperun Sengun is going to be a good NBA player. 18 year olds dominating the way he is should be a very easy bet to make the bet that he will be good in the NBA. He is great offencively, can score a lot in the post ups from fakes, to backing his opponent down, has a ton of moves there. His offense should translate to the NBA.

Good passer from the post

Good rebounding offensively

Should be a good shot blocker

Should be able to get defencive boards.

He should be tough to face down in the post, and with his offensive rebounding ability, and passing from the post, he should be a good player in the NBA. The only 2 problems are his 3 point shot and his defense just overall defense, but the rest looks good.

Ceiling: Probably Joel Embiid's 2017 or 2019 season but with worse defense.

Floor: Enes Kanter with scoring

Draft range: 7-12

Positives

-Very skilled post scorer, amazing footwork and uses his body well, soft touch around the rim, especially with his right, has the drop step, the hook shots, pump-fakes, the up and unders, loves to spin baseline, dominant offensive rebounder (almost 4 a game) with tip-ins, putbacks etc

-Solid roller with high upside in the short roll, has good footwork and timing, has a floater game and can be really explosive when given some space, had some posters

-Very interesting upside as a playmaker, can find the cutter, can be a REALLY flashy passer, at his best on the perimeter off DHO's and looking for backdoor cutters, capable outlet passer

-Intriguing in transition, good rebound and run potential, good handle for his size, creates for others well, outruns other bigs and is an underrated athlete in space, finishes well

-The jumper is a very much a work in progress, but his FT% (81% on attempts), overall touch and flashes of stepbacks and intriguing shot making point to possible improvement

Negatives

-Really struggles as a defender, wasn't good at containing guards in PnR's, slow hip movement, probably a drop big but his length isn't good enough to contest jumpers, offensive footwork doesn't translate well here, has shown flashes of rim protection and being a solid drop big but the bad stuff is still way too common, could be a defensive liability on the next level

-Still a very inconsistent shooter, mechanics a bit inconsistent though not broken, really big swing factor for him

-Should work on cutting out some turnovers, specifically in the post, very ambitious passer and this should come with more reps and development

-Questions on his position in the NBA are real, defensive struggles make him a weird fit at the 5, but no consistent jumpshot yet make him a tough fit at the 4, will need to improve in one of these areas

Likely range: 11-20

Pro Comparison: Kevin Love

Stats: 19.3 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 1.6 bpg, 69.2% TS, 20%(0.8A) 3pt

18 yrs old, 6''10", C, 240 lbs

Tier 4 Prospect

Alperen''s Sengun''s value seems to be highly disputed between big boards, with some finding the Turkish big man''s post finesse to be an enviable asset and others viewing it as a semi-useful skill, but nothing that is the foundation of a first round prospect. I teeter towards the latter side, but many might see Sengun''s impressive basketball IQ and feel for the game and see lots of room to grow something a lot more than he currently is. My one real problem with Sengun- he''s a true blue 4- not big enough to play at center, not enough of a rim protector to have as a small ball five, and not laterally quick enough to guard 3''s on switches. He''s the kind of player that''s getting played out of the NBA just systematically, and betting on that kind of player''s development seems a much riskier proposition that some later round fliers you could take.

Comp: David Lee