Rockets’ Alperen Sengun Likely Done For Season With Grade 3 Ankle Sprain

According to NBA insider Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, Houston Rockets big man Alperen Sengun suffered a Grade 3 right ankle sprain against the Sacramento Kings. 

Sengun won’t need surgery, but he’s likely done for the season. 

“Sources tell me Alperen Sengun has suffered a Grade 3 right ankle sprain, he will miss several weeks… tremendous sigh of relief, but this likely ends his regular season.”

NBA Insider @ShamsCharania on the Rockets young superstar. pic.twitter.com/CBYT8UiWiD

— Stadium (@Stadium) March 12, 2024

Sengun was carted off in a wheelchair against the Kings. The Rockets are thankful the rising NBA star didn’t suffer a serious injury. 

Sengun is averaging 21.1 points, 9.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists this season while shooting 53.7% from the field, 29.7% from beyond the arc and 69.3% from the free-throw line. 

The Rockets will not make the play-in tournament this season, so it makes no sense for Sengun to play again.

Houston can sign Sengun to a rookie-scale extension this summer. All signs point toward that happening. 

Sengun has career averages of 14.9 points, 7.9 rebounds and 3.8 assists. He was the 16th overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. 

During an interview with NBA reporter Kelly Iko of The Athletic, Rockets head coach Ime Udoka was asked to talk about Sengun. Udoka, as anticipated, has enjoyed coaching Sengun.

“It’s been great,” Udoka said. “I mean, the scoring piece, I’ve had a ton of big scorers in the past. I worked with Joel (Embiid), obviously, and Tim Duncan and LaMarcus Aldridge. I’ve had a lot of low-post scorers that I’ve either coached or played with throughout my career. But the overall game and where you can place him on the court, the only other guy that kind of matches that is Joel. But even with that, Joel is not really the passer that Alperen is — or he wasn’t when I had him, he’s gotten better in that regard.

“But, yeah, he’s very unique and it’s a luxury to have a guy like him you can move all over the court, and do a lot of things with. Once his shooting improves, it will open up the court for him and the team. The thing is (Şengün) understanding and us adjusting to how teams are going after him. He had a hot start, not a lot of post scorers in the league, so teams have been focused on taking him out and making us prove it from 3, to be frank. It’s really about how he adjusts and us putting him in better positions, but also growing and adapting to the success he’s had this year so far.”