Alperen Sengun just had an excellent Houston Rockets season. But with a franchise known for its centers, can he be the best since the best? Despite the scoring heroics of James Harden, Hakeem Olajuwon, also known as The Dream, is indisputably Houston’s greatest-ever player. That makes him pretty obviously the franchise’s best center. So how does Sengun, with his 21.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game in 2023-24, stack up with the rest?
Is Sengun The Best Houston Center Since Olajuwon?
The good news for Sengun in this exercise is that most other notable Houston big men actually preceded Hakeem. Historic performers such as multiple-time MVP Moses Malone and former San Diego Rocket great Elvin Hayes are both off the table. As is Hakeem’s early finals partner, Ralph Sampson, who unfortunately peeked in his fourth year before injuries did a number on his 7’4 frame.
So the pool of centers since Olajuwon is such that Sengun has a more competitive chance of comparing favorably. That isn’t to say that Houston’s middle has been occupied by a bunch of slouches in the meantime. In fact, there’s even been an all-time great.
The Rare Houston Free Agency Coup
Dwight Howard made a major free agency splash when he joined the Rockets in 2013. Of course, he had just come off the most tumultuous year of his career with the Los Angeles Lakers. But he still had plenty left in the tank for his first year in Houston. Howard put up 18.3 points and pulled down 12.2 rebounds. He wasn’t the three-time Defensive Player of The Year who used to dominate in Orlando. That probably had something to do with the team’s defensive rating barely changing with his arrival. Crucially, Howard made second-team All-NBA, which made him, at least nominally, the second-best center in the league that season. But by that metric, the third best was Al Jefferson, who played like Sengun if he never passed.
The rebounding edge is marginal. Scoring inflation is such that the points are probably in Howard’s favor. The conversation mainly comes down to defense versus playmaking. Howard had James Harden that season. Sengun had Jalen Green and Fred VanVleet. Green might be better-suited long-term to playing with a rim-running dunker like Howard. But it could also be that a center like Howard works better with a playmaking maestro such as Harden, whereas a center like Sengun works better with less offensively prolific but more defensively willing performers.
The 77th Greatest Player Of All Time?
Dwight Howard not being on the 75th Anniversary team was the second biggest issue with that list after it had a total of 76 members. Sengun has a long way to go to catch up with his career achievements, which include a late Gary Payton-style championship with the Los Angeles Lakers. But Howard’s Houston achievements are eminently attainable for Sengun. Howard was an important part of a conference finals team for Houston in 2015, but his role was diminished by that point. That leads on nicely to Howard’s successor.
Sengun’s Recent Houston Predecessor
Clint Capela started out as Howard’s backup. He emerged as a legitimate starting-caliber center as soon as the future Hall of Famer left town. However, he resumed Howard’s more minimalist role, setting screens and rolling hard to the rim. He hung out under the basket to catch lobs, not to look for post-ups. Indeed, Capela’s still been doing the same thing of late for the Atlanta Hawks, playing alongside Trae Young. He’s had a nice career so far and is far from done. But Sengun’s last season may have already surpassed Capela’s best. Certainly, in terms of potential, Sengun looks set to have a more productive career. But speaking of potential, there is one particular Houston center since Olajuwon who comes to mind.
Potentially The Center Sengun Needs To Beat
Yao Ming was a 7’6 behemoth with a mystifying touch. The 2002 No.1 overall pick’s potential was as immense as his frame. And it wasn’t all potential either. Yao was a three-time All-Star by his third season. There’s a little bit of a catch to that, though, namely that he was a starter every year. At first, that sounds even more impressive. But he was powered to those starting spots by an enormous number of fan votes. From a purely basketball perspective, there was no real justification for Yao to start over Shaquille O’Neal in the years before Shaq went East. Would the coaches or media have given Yao the nod so early if the fans hadn’t gotten him over the line?
Sengun just encountered something similar to this phenomenon himself. Turkey wasn’t able to muster up quite the same oomph that China had been for Yao. When the fan vote fell short, coaches weren’t inclined to pick Sengun out from among the pack of similarly deserving players. That isn’t to say that there aren’t other perfectly reasonable arguments for Yao over Sengun, just that All-Star berths are a lackluster one. If injuries hadn’t derailed and abruptly ended Yao’s career, his accolades would probably be hard to catch. As it is, Sengun may have a shot, and he can start by making a dent in Yao’s lead this next season.
No, No, No, Can’t Forget About…
It would be a disservice not to give an honorable mention to Dikembe Mutombo. The Hall of Famer finished his excellent career in a reserve role for Houston. He also took on some additional responsibility during Houston’s 2008 22-game winning streak. He even made the tremendous sacrifice of hurrying up his iconic finger-wag taunt after a block to enable Houston fast breaks.
The Last Word
Howard and Capela each have appearances as starters in the Western Conference Finals for Houston. Yao Ming’s career is one of basketball’s great what-ifs. Even with all that in mind, Sengun looks poised to surpass them as the best Houston center since Olajuwon. Of course, the current delay in his extension talks does undermine that a little. But Sengun is the best player on the Rockets’ roster. That they’d trade him or risk losing him seems unlikely. Additionally, he can make that look less likely still by putting up a monster season in 2024-25 which would take him another step closer to being, indisputably, the best Houston center since the Dream.
