Alperen Sengun is making the hardest leap to take in the NBA

The Houston Rockets have likely been closely watching EuroBasket. They surely love what they've seen from Alperen Sengun.

Look at the numbers. Sengun is averaging 22.0 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 6.7 assists per game. The efficiency stats are even more staggering. Sengun is shooting 62.5% from the field, 42.9% from the three-point line, and 76.5% from the free-throw line. Sengun is playing like a superstar:

Pundits like Kevin O'Connor are starting to notice.

Rockets' Alperen Sengun earmarked for improvement

"I think Sengun looks like a guy who's going to come back this NBA season as an even better player overall."

- Kevin O'Connor, Yahoo Sports

Some fans will have reservations about such a proclamation. They'll say that the EuroBasket competition is not the same as the NBA competition.

That's true - to a large extent. It should be noted that this tournament is filled with NBA talent. Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Lauri Markkanen, Kristaps Porzingis, and (many) others are all participants. NBA fans would do well to remember how international the league has become. Many of the best players in the world come from outside the United States of America.

Still, this is not the NBA. There's no denying that:

But it shouldn't stop Rockets fans from feeling optimistic.

Rockets fans should expect a leap from Alperen Sengun

We're questioning the competition level in EuroBasket? Really?

Fans get excited over open gym highlights during the summer. A video of someone lifting a weight can send the NBA universe into a tailspin. We can't celebrate a dominant EuroBasket performance?

Sengun directly outplayed Jokic when Turkey and Serbia met, and he's narrowly outplaying him in general. Antetokounmpo has been dominant for Greece. On a related note, Antetokounmpo is dominant in the NBA as well.

If any stat points to Sengun's progress, it's his three-point percentage. Fans shouldn't expect a 40% + season from him, but the fact that he's knocking down threes so accurately in EuroBasket play bodes well for the 2025-26 season.

Last summer, Sengun took obvious strides to improve his defense. Perhaps he's focused on three-point shooting this year. If he can also regress to the mean on his interior scoring, he should have a career year in 2025-26.

Kevin Durant's presence ought to help as well. There will be less pressure on Sengun, and teams will have a harder time sending double teams his way. His assists per game could spike in addition to his three-point percentage. Sengun is on the path to stardom:

EuroBasket is just the first step.