One Area Alperen Sengun Excelled in and One Area He Struggled

Alperen Sengun was the Houston Rockets best passer last season and had a career high in assist per game. Next season however he must become a better well rounded offensive threat.

Apr 26, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun (28) drives with the ball as Los Angeles Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt (2) defends during the first quarter during game four of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

One Area Alperen Sengun Excelled in and One Area He Struggled

The 2025-26 season on the court came to an end Saturday night in San Antonio. The New York Knicks, the team that hasn't won a championship since the 1973 season, finally ended that 53-year drought with a 94-90 victory over the Spurs.

The Knicks did what they have done all series long: come back from a double-digit deficit to pull out the victory. Even though the season doesn't officially end until July 1st with the Finals, it means all 30 teams now start preparing for next season.

Some teams, like the Rockets, have been in offseason mode for over a month, after bowing out of the playoffs in early May with a first-round loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. That 4-2 deficit seems like a lifetime ago.

We have already started to see videos of Rocket players working out and preparing for next season. Steven Adams, who missed the last few months of the season, has released several videos of himself working out, and recently, Alperen Sengun showed some on-court work as well.

Sengun has worked out with Rocket coaches in Turkiye for the last few seasons, as the Rockets wanted its coaching staff to work directly with Sengun over the summer.  Sengun will enter his sixth NBA season when the Rockets return to action and is coming off back-to-back All-Star seasons.

There was plenty to like about Sengun's 2025-26 season, as the big man continues to be one of the best young players in the NBA, but there are also areas where he still has to improve. In part four of my series, I discuss one area Sengun excelled in and one that still needs work.

Alperen Sengun Excelled as a Playmaker, but His Outside Shooting Is Still an Issue

Apr 29, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun (28) moves the ball against Los Angeles Lakers guard Marcus Smart (36) during the first half in game five of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Throughout his career, Sengun has been known as one of the best passing big men in the NBA. For the first few seasons, he was known as Baby Jokic, but as time went on, Sengun wanted to leave that nickname behind and forge his own identity.

With the injury to Fred VanVleet, the Rockets would have to lean on Sengun even more as a playmaker, as their offense was primarily run through him and Kevin Durant. Sengun stepped up, becoming the Rockets' best passer throughout the season as they leaned more and more on him to generate offense.

Sengun finished with a career-high 6.2 assists per game, which was over an assist per game more than his previous high of 5.0. Sengun, at times, would operate at the top of the key, starting the Rockets' offense, which is a alot for any big man to handle, as he was also one of the Rockets' few offensive threats.

When Sengun and Durant were off the court, the Rockets' offense would come to a screeching halt, as the Rockets did not have a guard who stepped up into that point guard role. The Rockets hope Sengun can focus more on scoring next season with the return of VanVleet.

Sengun, like Amen Thompson, whom I wrote about earlier in this series, still has one major flaw: outside shooting. Not just 3-point shooting, but shooting outside of the restricted area.

Sengun shot only .146 from 10-16 feet and even worse from 16 feet to the 3-point line, where he shot .38 of course, in todays NBA unless you are a marksman from midrange you dont want your big man shooting a lot of shots from this area but with teams clogging the lane to prevent him and Thompson from scoring around the basket Sengun has to open up his game.

Sengun did improve from the previous season from the 3-point line, but .305 is nothing to write home about, especially when it's on a low volume. If Sengun can ever develop a reliable mid-range, not even necessarily a 3-point shot, it would open the lane for him, as he has one of the best handles at the center position and can take advantage of slower big men.

Sengun is again expected to be one of the Rockets' best players, if not the best, with Durant turning 38 next season. Sengun has made significant progress throughout his career, becoming one of the best centers in the NBA. Now he just needs to improve his outside shooting so he can become one of the best players in the entire NBA and take that next step.