Rockets' Alperen Sengun is playing with a perfect mindset

With Fred VanVleet injured, the Houston Rockets will need someone to step up in the playmaking department. It looks like Alperen Sengun is the man for the job.

That won't surprise most fans of the team. Sengun's passing chops are well-documented. That said, he didn't always use them throughout 2024-25.

There are different elements in passing. There's your creativity, but there's also processing speed to consider. Sengun could always see passes that nobody else could, but he's struggled to make them quickly enough at times.

Throughout the Rockets' 3 preseason games, that hasn't been the case.

Rockets' Alperen Sengun looks like a star playmaker

Sengun is averaging 8.6 assists per game during the preseason.

On Tuesday's win against the Pelicans, he did it again. Sengun finished with 7 dimes. Notably, he finished with just 7 points on a modest 8 field goal attempts. Sengun looked focused on getting his teammates involved.

That's perfect. To reiterate, the Rockets are without their starting point guard for 2025-26. Someone will need to orchestrate the offense. If Sengun can handle those responsibilities, it will be tremendously useful.

Should he even be looking to score?

Rockets need a well-rounded performance from Sengun

Yes, and he needs to defend as well.

A lot to ask? Sure. Those are the expectations that come with being a star big. The Rockets need Sengun to be a primary scorer and playmaker, and a defensive anchor. If Sengun fails in any of those areas, it's going to hurt the team.

That said, he's got some leeway to distribute his energy. Offensively, the Rockets need him to fully adopt this playmaking mindset. Playmaking ought to be at the top of his job description.

In simple terms, it would be better for Sengun to average 20 points and 7 assists over 25 and 5. That way, he can functionally replace VanVleet (to an extent).

Besides, the Rockets have their alpha scorer. That was Sengun's 2024-25 position, but in the coming season, it'll be Kevin Durant's spot. When the Rockets need a bucket, that's who they're going to defer to. When they need to set up a play, the ball needs to find Sengun.

So, Sengun's performance on Tuesday was encouraging. He'll take more than 8 shots in any given regular-season game, but he needs to carry this mentality over. The more Sengun focuses on getting his teammates involved, the better the Rockets' offense is likely to be:

Every offense needs a primary playmaker.