Will The Celtics Regret Passing On The Chance To Draft Alperen Şengün?

Will The Celtics Regret Passing On The Chance To Draft Alperen Şengün?

The Celtics are off to a miserable start to the 2021-22 NBA season, but I’m not sure we can say the same about Brad Stevens’ tenure as Celtics general manager? To date, the decision to offload Kemba Walker’s contract remains the most important thing Stevens has done. I’m just not sure he did the right thing. Regardless, it cost the Celtics Alperen Şengün which is something that hasn’t been talked about enough.

It’s a weird paradox. Kemba always had to be traded. He was rotten goods. It’s just a matter of if you agree with what Stevens did. Kemba was dealt to Oklahoma City in exchange for Al Horford and the 16th overall pick which eventually became Alperen Şengün. Horford has also been a bum for the Celtics but ultimately, this trade will be judged based on the way Şengün turns out.

Recently, a story came out via Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com, that the Celtics would have drafted Şengün at No. 16 overall. Of course, there is no way of knowing if Şengün would have been on the board at the time of the trade. It wasn’t long ago that the Celtics had their hearts set on Tyler Herro before Miami snatched him one pick prior based on winning a coin toss that somehow involved the Sacramento Kings. Boston eventually ended up with Romeo Langford instead. RIP.

It’s almost as if since Red Auerbach died, the Celtics’ luck went from chicken salad, to chicken shit. Not the other way around. Kyrie Irving lost it, Gordon Hayward broke his leg in 2.34 seconds, Kemba aged in dog years, and Anthony Davis said no to Boston because of Isaiah Thomas who stinks anyway? Well, maybe that last one is a good thing. Then I remembered the Celtics had too many draft picks and were forced to give Desmond Bane away. Oh, then I also remembered the fact that Kevin Durant was ready to sign with the Celtics until Golden State lost in the NBA Finals with a 73 win team. RIP.

It turns out luck (*maybe*) was on their side. Şengün was waiting for them with the 16th pick and they gave it away to dump a bad contract for a slightly better but still egregious contract. I’m not sure it sits well with any Celtics fan. Certainly, this trade won’t matter if Şengün turns into a lemon. That just doesn’t appear to be the case.

Şengün, 19, was taken by the Rockets (after another trade that’s an entirely separate article because the Thunder had this fall into their lap). Şengün is currently averaging 8.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.6 assists albeit on a bad Rockets team. Şengün is also posting a PER of 17.5, an effective field goal percentage of 52.1%, and a +3.8 net offensive rating.

Şengün needs more work but his resume overseas is what always made draft experts intrigued. Şengün scored 19.2 points per game in the Turkish Super League last year for Beşiktaş Icrypex. Şengün hasn’t really posted great shooting numbers from deep, but most believe the range will eventually come for the 6-foot-10 Turkish rookie.

There are going to be a lot of growing pains for Şengün and the Rockets in general. It’s a really young team and we won’t know their ceiling for a while yet. It’s just impossible to watch the Celtics every night let Enes Kanter sit on the bench when they could have had a much more promising Turkish big man on the roster. That’s no disrespect to Kanter (who I actually like). It’s just the potential of a Robert Williams / Şengün back court felt scary and somehow perfect. Of course, Şengün can’t defend NBA centers yet but his fit with Boston felt so perfect because of the range and talent.

2021 NBA Draft: Biggest Losers from Draft Night

At the end of the day, Şengün won’t come back to burn them unless he really turns into a Domantas Sabonis level player. If Şengün is just a 10 point per night role player, Stevens won’t have any problems sleeping at night. Either way, the risk to trade away the chance of that doesn’t feel worth it just to dump Kemba’s contract.