Much has been made of Turkish Prospect Alperen Şengün and how he’s an offense only big who cannot play any defense. How those archetypes are not valuable in the NBA and he’s not a top 20-30 or even 60 pick.
While I know I probably shouldn’t be arguing for boards to be more in line with consensus, I do believe a lot of people are so caught into the Philosophy of Archetypes that they are maybe putting him in a box he doesn’t belong in.
I want to address first that his rim protection is underrated.
Şengün is 6’9-6’10 with a 7’ wingspan (measured 2 years ago. Some reports say his wingspan is 7’3). He’s got the size to be a deterrent inside. Moses Wright is 6’9 in shoes and has a 7’ wingspan, he averaged 1.6 blocks in 35 minutes a game, Şengün averaged 1.7 in 28 minutes a game.
Here are some clips showing rim protection upside from him.
Rim protection block:
Chase down:
Multiple blocks in the same possession:
Block keeps possession and runs the floor well:
Here we have good recognition and a contest:
Now we get to the fun stuff, his offense
Alperen has probably the best post spin of this generation the absolute speed at which he can go from a post up into a dunk is incredible for a giant like Şengün.
Just for fun let’s look at this different kind of post spin.
Şengün is also very capable of facing up and taking bigs off the dribble.
These highlight both his post up and his pick and roll abilities
Şengün is probably the best post passer in the draft. He’s also able to grab rebounds and run the break.
Watch here how the defense throws the whole team at him and he still gets his team an open shot.
While he is a post up big he doesn’t bog down the offense and is capable of making incredibly fast reads.
While he didn’t take or make a ton of 3s he was 81% from the line and his form looks good…
…and his form stays consistent off movement
I will talk about my one worry.
Şengün needs to have a primary ball handler with him. He shouldn’t be used like Jokic but he should get more post touches than a Vucevic for example.
I will also admit he will struggle with switches early on. In fact here’s a clip:
Now to be honest most teenaged wings are going to struggle with this kind of attack especially from someone of Calathes’ caliber of veteran savvy, but this could be a worry on the next level. I just don’t see it as enough of a worry to keep him from being a top 10 prospect in this class.
My comps for him are a mixture of two Lithuanian big men in Jonas Valančiūnas and Domantas Sabonis. I think he will have a defensive/rebounding impact like JV, making it hard on post scorers by making them work hard on both ends. However, he can also run the floor and initiate offense like Sabonis, also like Sabonis I think his shooting will come around.
In short Şengün is one of the best offensive big men to come into the NBA in a generation. He’s also underrated in his defensive impact. Sengun is 100% worth the risk. Be in on Sengun now before it’s too late.
Jordan Ennis lives in West Africa where he is a pastor at an international church, he also co-hosts the Assisted Development Podcast and writes for assisteddevelopmentpod.com. He can be found at Assisted Development Podcast on Facebook and @BaturePreacher on Twitter.
Jordan Ennis
Jordan Ennis lives in West Africa where he is a pastor at an international church, he also co-hosts the Assisted Development Podcast on the HoopSocial Podcasts feed. He can be found at Assisted Development Podcast on Facebook and @HoopSocialDraft on Twitter.