Alperen Sengun enters the 2026-27 season with higher expectations after another All-Star campaign and a second consecutive first-round playoff exit for the Houston Rockets.
Sengun made clear during Tuesday’s media day that he embraces those expectations and believes they can push him toward becoming a better player.
“Every year is different expectation. It’s just getting bigger and bigger and that’s how you become a bit better player,” Sengun said. “I want to be the best player in this league one day.”
The 24-year-old center averaged 20.4 points, 8.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists in 72 games last season while shooting 51.9% from the field. He was selected to his second straight All-Star team.
For Sengun, however, individual recognition remains secondary to Houston’s team goals.
“Of course, I want to win every game,” he said. “The winning is the most important thing with the team and other stuff, the awards, the All-Stars, All-NBAs comes after all that.”
Sengun wants to become more consistent with his outside shot this season. He believes the biggest obstacle is not his ability to shoot, but maintaining confidence and consistency.
“I feel like there’s nothing wrong with my shot. It’s just all in my head,” Sengun said. “I just got to be consistent about it and doing the same thing I’m doing right now and middle of the season. That’s the goal.”
He also discussed the impact of Fred VanVleet’s return after the veteran guard missed the entire 2025-26 season with a knee injury.
“We’re really happy to have Fred back,” Sengun said. “He was really important piece for us. Great leader for this team, in the court, on off the court, everywhere.”
Sengun believes VanVleet’s return will allow Houston’s players to settle back into more natural roles while benefiting from the lessons they gained last season.
“We’re going to put everybody in their spot and that’s really important for us,” he said. “That was what we were missing last season.”
The Rockets also added Marcus Smart and retained a young core featuring Amen Thompson, Jabari Smith Jr., Reed Sheppard and Tari Eason. Sengun believes the adversity of last season helped those players mature.
“Those are things, like I said, they been there, they know how to handle it,” he said of the Lakers’ playoff experience. “We couldn’t handle it. But you watch it after the season. You have a long offseason. You watch all those games. You watch, you listen, you just trying to understand how you can get better.”
Sengun particularly pointed to the growth of Houston’s young players during the six-game series against Los Angeles.
“Reed had an amazing playoff series, which is his first playoff series,” he said. “We all know everybody has a big heart out here.”
The Rockets went 52-30 last season but lost to the Lakers 4-2 in the opening round. Sengun believes the next step must come gradually.
“It wasn’t the goal living the season in the first round,” he said. “You learn something every day, every season.”
“Just step by step, beating the first round and going from there. That’s the goal for us.”
With VanVleet and Steven Adams returning, Kevin Durant entering his second season in Houston and the young core gaining playoff experience, Sengun sees an opportunity to build on what the Rockets learned.
“We have a special group out here and we are family,” Sengun said. “So just one purpose. We all are here. We just want to win.”
