Here’s the thing about Alperen Şengün: even on the nights when he’s not perfect, he still completely controls the game. There aren’t many bigs in the league who can have an off shooting night, deal with double teams, get blocked a couple times, and still dictate the entire flow of their team’s offense. But Şengün does it. And that’s the difference between a “really good young big” and a franchise center.

His bad games are still better than most guys’ good ones. Even when he gets flustered by crowded paint defenses, he’s still almost always the one bending the floor. The Rockets run everything through him because they have to- his gravity and his passing open up the entire court. Sheppard’s shooting, Amen’s driving lanes, Sheppard’s catch-and-shoot pockets- all of it comes from the amount of attention Şengün demands the second he touches the ball.

And at this point, he’s already playing like a top-10 center in the league. The only guys clearly above him are the true aliens- the Jokic tier. But Şengün outclasses everyone else with IQ, pace control, and that ridiculous playmaking that nobody ever sees coming until it’s already in the highlight reels.

He’s the kind of player you build a team around because he creates the system. MVPs do that. They don’t just score- they rearrange defenses and make everyone around them better.

Şengün isn’t just “promising.” He’s becoming inevitable. And the wildest part is he’s nowhere near his ceiling yet.