With elite abilities as a low-post scorer and playmaker, Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun was a first-time NBA All-Star in 2025. However, one area where the fourth-year star showed some decline was in 3-point shooting.
While always on relatively low volume — fewer than two attempts per game, on average — Sengun shot 3-pointers at a solid 33.3% clip during his sophomore campaign. But that number slipped to 29.7% and 23.3% over his third and fourth NBA seasons, respectively (2023-24 and 2024-25).
Advertisement
Entering his fifth season in 2025-26, the hope is that Sengun can reverse that trend. From Kelly Iko of The Athletic:
Şengün continues to impress at EuroBasket with the Turkish national team, but all eyes will be on the All-Star center come October. The Rockets have had multiple coaches (along with Fred VanVleet) in Europe with Şengün working out this summer and expect him to continue his ascension. One area where they’d like to see an uptick is his 3-point shooting, which has been a huge offseason focus in his training sessions.
Given Houston’s increasing preference to play “double big” lineups, any breakthrough in 3-point shooting by Sengun could be even more important. Veteran center Steven Adams isn’t a shooter, and at least to date, Amen Thompson has shown clear shooting limitations.
So, if Sengun is able to make defenders respect him as a shooter from beyond the arc, that could go a long way toward mitigating the floor-spacing concerns that would normally accompany lineups featuring at least two (if not three) of Sengun, Adams, and Thompson.
Time will tell as to whether he’s able to make that happen.
Advertisement
More: As Rockets play more zone defense, Alperen Sengun credits Steven Adams
This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: Rockets hopeful of 3-point shooting breakthrough for Alperen Sengun