New player rankings prove Alperen Sengun is one of the NBA's most underrated players

The Houston Rockets have a superstar in Alperen Sengun. Yet, somehow, he remains underrated by the general NBA media.

The Ringer's latest player rankings aren't unreasonable. They don't have Sengun ranked egregiously low. Some will celebrate his 14th overall placement. To be recognized as a top 15 player in the NBA at 23 is an accomplishment.

Yet, it's too low.

Rockets' Alperen Sengun ranked too low by media outlet

As always, the double-barreled question is: Who's ahead of Sengun, and who does (or doesn't) deserve to be?

Let's look four spots ahead. We've got Jaylen Brown at 13th, Devin Booker at 12th, the Rockets' own Kevin Durant at 11th, and Cade Cunningham rounding out the top 10.

Sengun has not been unequivically better than Cunningham. Debates about the 2021 draft will rage, but for now, Cunningham is (somehow even) more important to his red-hot Pistons. It's fair to have him ahead of Sengun. Otherwise, it would be fair to say Sengun should have landed 11th.

His 5.8 Box Plus/Minus (BPM) ranks substantially higher than Brown's (2.8), Booker's (1.1), or Durant's (1.4). BPM shouldn't be the be-all, end-all - if it was, Reed Sheppard (6.3) would have been in the top-10.

(Although, side note, he probably should have cracked the top 100).

Still, it is widely considered the best aggregate metric. Even if you don't like the stat, there's a contextual argument for Sengun. He's the engine for a team that's outperforming either Brown's or Booker's, and he's the engine on Durant's own squad.

Why didn't he rank higher?

Alperen Sengun continues to build his reputation

On some level, reputation factors into these rankings.

Booker, Brown, and Durant have been around for a long time. They've been hovering around the league's top 15 players since long before Sengun was in the league.

Is that a fair reason for them to leap Sengun on a list like this one? No - but it's undeniably a factor. Writers are human beings. Subconcious biases creep into their work.

And no, that's not applicable to this article.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter where The Ringer ranks Sengun. What matters is his impact on the Rockets. He's their best player, and they're one of the best teams in the NBA. Soon, Sengun is likely to get the recognition he deserves.

For now, he's one of the most underrated players in the NBA.