{"id":353818,"date":"2026-06-28T21:51:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T21:51:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/353818\/"},"modified":"2026-06-28T21:51:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T21:51:21","slug":"rockets-star-alperen-sengun-catches-stray-from-nba-rookie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/353818\/","title":{"rendered":"Rockets Star Alperen Sengun Catches Stray From NBA Rookie"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"Alperen\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Alperen Sengun #28 of the Houston Rockets reacts during the third quarter against the Los Angeles Lakers in Game Six of the First Round of the NBA Western Conference Playoffs at Toyota Center on May 01, 2026 in Houston, Texas. <\/p>\n

One of the NBA\u2019s best young stars today is Houston Rockets<\/a> center Alperen Sengun<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 23-year-old big man is already a two-time All-Star, averaging<\/a> 20.4 points, 8.9 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.1 blocks last season. He helped the Rockets make the playoffs as the fifth seed.<\/p>\n

However, the Rockets suffered a disappointing exit at the hands of the Luka Doncic<\/a>-less Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> in the first round. Sengun put up<\/a> 20.3 points, 10.2 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.3 blocks in six games.<\/p>\n

Alperen Sengun Catches Stray From Philadelphia 76ers Rookie\"Alperen\"Alperen<\/a><\/p>\n

GettyAlperen Sengun #28 of the Houston Rockets reacts after being called for a foul against the Los Angeles Lakers during the first quarter in Game Five of the First Round of the NBA<\/a> Western Conference Playoffs at Crypto.com Arena on April 29, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.<\/p>\n

In a now-viral video from NBA 2KL<\/a>, Philadelphia 76ers<\/a> rookie Labaron Philon Jr.<\/a> was asked which player he would like to cross over next season.<\/p>\n

Philon initially named Tre Johnson<\/a> of the Washington Wizards<\/a>, whom he played with at Link Academy in Branson, Missouri.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019d probably be Tre Johnson,\u201d Philon said, via BasketNews<\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019s a former teammate of mine. If there is a chance, I\u2019m definitely trying to cross him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 20-year-old guard then suddenly added Alperen Sengun, bringing up what TikTok has been saying about the Houston Rockets big man.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it\u2019s a superstar, I\u2019m taking Alperen Sengun,\u201d Philon said. \u201cI\u2019ve been on TikTok a lot and you know, people out there saying he\u2019s playing like he has a refrigerator on his back.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rookie might have his hands full next season when the Sixers face the Rockets.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, Philon did praise Sengun\u2019s game, though it wouldn\u2019t be surprising if the two-time All-Star had already set his sights on dropping a monster game or two versus Philly.<\/p>\n

According to Ben DuBose of USA Today\u2019s Rockets Wire<\/a>, Sengun will have a busy offseason with the Turkish national team. He is set to play for Turkey in the upcoming window of the 2027 FIBA World Cup qualifying tournament.<\/p>\n

Sengun will be joined by plenty of players with NBA experience like Adem Bona<\/a>, Cedi Osman, Furkan Kormaz, Malachi Flynn and Omer Yurtseven<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Labaron Philon Jr. Called Steal of the Draft\"Labaron\"Labaron<\/a><\/p>\n

GettyNBA commissioner Adam Silver shakes hands with Labaron Philon Jr. after he is drafted twenty-second overall by the Philadelphia 76ers during Round One of the 2026 NBA Draft at Barclays Center on June 23, 2026 in New York City.<\/p>\n

The Philadelphia 76ers selected Labaron Philon Jr. with the No. 22 pick of the 2026 NBA draft. Philon was projected to be a lottery pick by some analysts, so his fall was a bit surprising.<\/p>\n

Will Rucker of Liberty Ballers<\/a> believes in Philon\u2019s potential, comparing him to Sixers All-Star Tyrese Maxey<\/a>, who was the 21st pick of the 2020 NBA draft.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis type of steal should remind fans of landing Tyrese Maxey back in 2020 as Philon has the upside to be that caliber of player and will immediately vault himself into Sixth Man of the Year conversations if given the opportunity to do so,\u201d Rucker wrote.<\/p>\n

Philon was also compared to other guards like Lou Williams, Tony Parker, Darius Garland<\/a> and even some Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a>. His upside comes from his scoring, ball-handling and shot creation.<\/p>\n

However, Maxey and VJ Edgecombe<\/a> are already occupying the Sixers\u2019 starting backcourt, though having another option in Philon is a great problem to have.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tJuan Paolo David<\/a> Juan Paolo David is a sports journalist covering basketball for Heavy. He has a decade of experience writing about the NBA and WWE. He’s currently based in the Philippines. More about Juan Paolo David<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Alperen Sengun #28 of the Houston Rockets reacts during the third quarter against the Los Angeles Lakers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":353819,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57],"class_list":["post-353818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=353818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353818\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/353819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=353818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=353818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=353818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}