The Houston Rockets and heart Alperen Şengün agreed to a five-year, $185 million contract extension Monday, minutes forward of the 6 p.m. ET deadline for rookie-scale extensions, league sources instructed The Athletic.
For the reason that starting of the summer time, the Rockets and Şengün’s representatives have gone backwards and forwards on deal constructions and valuation. Rockets officers held out hope Monday that Şengün’s representatives would return to the negotiating desk and settle for that provide, which they did.
Şengün, 22, turns into the central determine of a Rockets staff that has rapidly turned the web page from rebuilding to aggressive. By locking up Sengun and fellow 2021 first-round decide Jalen Inexperienced for the foreseeable future, the Rockets sacrifice a lot of their cap house for subsequent summer time. Sengun’s earlier cap maintain was simply $16.3 million, which might have given Houston’s entrance workplace monetary flexibility for extra strikes through the subsequent offseason interval. Now, that quantity shall be changed by Şengün’s first-year wage on this new deal.
Final season, Şengün averaged 21.1 factors, 9.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists per sport, quickly rising by the ranks and incomes respect amongst friends and analysts alike. He flirted with an All-Star choice and completed third in Most Improved Participant voting. Şengün missed the ultimate 18 video games of the 2023-24 common season on account of a proper ankle sprain, however has since recovered and appeared in all 4 of Houston’s preseason video games.
The fourth-year heart took an aggressive rehab method. A number of Rockets coaches spent prolonged time with Şengün in Turkey through the summer time, preserving him centered and in form. A slimmed-down Şengün meshes effectively with coach Ime Udoka’s want to extend Houston’s tempo of play, particularly if he commits to capturing 3s and spacing the ground. Şengün is an offensive fulcrum with superior footwork within the low publish, along with his playmaking, bettering rim safety and defensive versatility.
The Rockets acquired Şengün with the sixteenth decide within the 2021 NBA Draft following a commerce with the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder during which Houston surrendered two future first-round picks.
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(Prime photograph: Alex Slitz / Getty Photographs)
