When the Houston Rockets landed Alperen Sengun in the 2021 NBA Draft, many around the league thought they stumbled into good fortune.
But according to Rockets general manager Rafael Stone, there was no luck involved.
“We definitely saw it,” Stone said about Sengun’s potential. “We traded two first-round picks to get him, so we wouldn’t have done that if we didn’t see somebody who could be this type of impactful player. Alperen, he was the MVP of that league at 18. The only two people who had comparable success in top-tier leagues are Jokic and Luka. So I thought that was a good indicator and just watched the film, like he just does special stuff.”
Sengun’s journey to the NBA had already shown signs of greatness. By age 16, he was playing professionally for Bandirma Kirmizi in the Turkish second division.
Within two years, he was dominating the Turkish Super League. In 2021, at only 18 years old, Sengun averaged 19.2 points, 9.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.3 steals, and 1.7 blocks across 29 games for Besiktas, earning league MVP honors.
“It was tough, it was COVID. I never met him in person because he couldn’t. But yeah, he was just a huge target,” Stone explained “We picked Jalen, and then starting at pick 6, I was throwing. We were trying to come out of the draft with those two guys. I started throwing stuff to other teams, trying to trade up all the way. Immediately after we made our first pick, we were trying to get him, and we were lucky we got him.”
That determination has paid off. Sengun became an All-Star in his third season and averaged a double-double last year for the first time in his NBA career. Looking back, Houston’s gamble stands out as one of the best moves of the 2021 draft.
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