Who Would You Rather Have: Jalen Duren Or Alperen Sengun?

[K_chile22]

I don't know man. Cade and Sengun could have a beautiful 2 man game. Pistons would be a nightmare to defend if they had another playmaker like Sengun.

I'm a huge Duren fan but Sengun is a couple tiers better.

Cade and Duren are the #1 alley oop duo in the league. Sengun isn’t doing that. The Pistons would not be better if they traded Duren for Sengun, even though Sengun would have better offensive stats.

It's not like they have some great offense because of alley oops. They're middle of the pack. They need another creator more than a lob threat.

And Sengun is showing that he can still be a part of an elite defense in spite of his shortcomings. Duren has potential to be an elite defender, but he's not there yet.

Also Sengun's pick and roll finisher stats were incredible last year, this year his partner FVVs shooting fell off hard so teams just didn't give up the roll and let him shoot. People have this idea of what Sengun is and isn't because he's a white European big who moves like he's un-athletic

[MrPainfulTruth]

Sengun and Sabonis are like nerfed versions of Joker. High IQ, good handle and playmaking, good rebounding. Maybe this will be the new model for the league, its always one team leading with a revolutionary new type of player and then many follow. Just think of the 2000's revolution that came with Steph - and a million guards who tried to copy him.

[MrBigShot]

Def have to eat a lot of crow on this one.

Duren is a better rebounder and an actual lob threat, but Sengun has the edge in scoring, playmaking overall is a much more impactful player.

Without Stewart out, Duren had a big game 2 for us with 12 pts/13 rebs on 3/4 shooting, to go with 3 blocks and a steal. His defense leaves a lot to be desired but when he's engaged he can make an impact on offense/on the board because of his terrific physical tools. Overall good value for the 12th pick.

[sca]

Time to revisit this thread.

While there is no longer any doubt about who the better player is, threads like this one show how prone people are to stereotyping players rather than comparing them directly. In lots of people's eyes, Duren is an athletic banger / defensive anchor in the mold of Dwight Howard / early Clint Capela etc. while Şengün is a slow-footed, non-defensive type of big who would never be able to anchor a successful defense in the modern NBA. It's the same people who insist that Jokic is a bad defensive big just because of the fact that he's not a direct shot challenging threat, although his positioning awareness and rebounding / boxing out instincts (which are far more important to defense than mere shot-blocking) are top notch. Sorry for the reviving an old thread, but just wanted to rant a bit.

I have to say that I'm not proud of this post. The Pistons were 10-15 and the Rockets were 16-8 when I wrote this, and the Pistons had a terrible year before that, so very few people could've predicted this turnaround from them. Since then, I've started taking their players more seriously, and
while this comparison might still be one-sided, now I believe that Duren has the potential to become a very good player, if he isn't already.

[Johnny Firpo]

Def have to eat a lot of crow on this one.

Duren is a better rebounder and an actual lob threat, but Sengun has the edge in scoring, playmaking overall is a much more impactful player.

Without Stewart out, Duren had a big game 2 for us with 12 pts/13 rebs on 3/4 shooting, to go with 3 blocks and a steal. His defense leaves a lot to be desired but when he's engaged he can make an impact on offense/on the board because of his terrific physical tools. Overall good value for the 12th pick.

Duren has potential still, no doubt, but yeah, he is the kind of guy who can have a bad defensive game while having 6 blocks, which is crazy. That's how clueless he sometimes are in his rotations and man defense.

[TravisScott55]

Duren

[kaansunman]

I am shocked when I see the topic then realized it is 2 years old.
Not being nationalist here but I would have Alperen any given day.

[MoreyWins]

I don't think it's out of pocket to say all 30 teams would take Sengun over Duren. The defensive drop-off isn't nearly as big as the offensive gap between both players.

[Sane]

Put it this way: Sengun is the Cade Cunningham of his team. Duren is literally a role player on the Rockets or Pistons.

[Frankie]

Sengun and Sabonis are like nerfed versions of Joker. High IQ, good handle and playmaking, good rebounding. Maybe this will be the new model for the league, its always one team leading with a revolutionary new type of player and then many follow. Just think of the 2000's revolution that came with Steph - and a million guards who tried to copy him.

I don't think Sengun and Sabonis are that similar tbh. When I watch the Kings, Sabonis' offensive bag is usually handoffs at the top of the key or lay ups/dunks/tap ins. He's very good at what he does but it's very different from what Sengun has to deal with most games. He often has to fight through double teams just to get a shot off. I don't know if it's still the case now but a few months ago I read Sengun had the most unassisted FGA and FGM among all bigs in the league. A lot of the time our halfcourt offense is literally just pass to Sengun and then clear out.

I don't even think Sengun is that similar to Jokic either. The closest comparison I can think of is Pau Gasol.

[Infinite Llamas]

Sengun and Sabonis are like nerfed versions of Joker. High IQ, good handle and playmaking, good rebounding. Maybe this will be the new model for the league, its always one team leading with a revolutionary new type of player and then many follow. Just think of the 2000's revolution that came with Steph - and a million guards who tried to copy him.

I don't think Sengun and Sabonis are that similar tbh. When I watch the Kings, Sabonis' offensive bag is usually handoffs at the top of the key or lay ups/dunks/tap ins. He's very good at what he does but it's very different from what Sengun has to deal with most games. He often has to fight through double teams just to get a shot off. I don't know if it's still the case now but a few months ago I read Sengun had the most unassisted FGA and FGM among all bigs in the league. A lot of the time our halfcourt offense is literally just pass to Sengun and then clear out.

I don't even think Sengun is that similar to Jokic either. The closest comparison I can think of is Pau Gasol.

Everytime I watch Sengun he is throwing down dunks on dudes. Definitely more explosive than a guy like Sabonis. He could be an MVP candidate with a better 3pt shot imo

[Backcountry]

I haven't watched tonnes of games of either of them, but I've seen enough to believe that Sengun could have a) won that jump ball against Brunson without throwing it out of bounds, and b) inbounded that last play without also throwing it out of bounds.

[Upperclass]

Not sure how fans like Duren but didn't like Drummond or Capela

[Nuntius]

Time to revisit this thread.

While there is no longer any doubt about who the better player is, threads like this one show how prone people are to stereotyping players rather than comparing them directly. In lots of people's eyes, Duren is an athletic banger / defensive anchor in the mold of Dwight Howard / early Clint Capela etc. while Şengün is a slow-footed, non-defensive type of big who would never be able to anchor a successful defense in the modern NBA. It's the same people who insist that Jokic is a bad defensive big just because of the fact that he's not a direct shot challenging threat, although his positioning awareness and rebounding / boxing out instincts (which are far more important to defense than mere shot-blocking) are top notch. Sorry for the reviving an old thread, but just wanted to rant a bit.

I have to say that I'm not proud of this post. The Pistons were 10-15 and the Rockets were 16-8 when I wrote this, and the Pistons had a terrible year before that, so very few people could've predicted this turnaround from them. Since then, I've started taking their players more seriously, and
while this comparison might still be one-sided, now I believe that Duren has the potential to become a very good player, if he isn't already.

I actually think that your takeaway is still spot on. I and-1'd your post yesterday

Duren does have potential if he learns how to use his athletic gifts on the defensive end but you are spot on when it comes to people underating Sengun and Jokic's defense.

[GeorgeMarcus]

Sengun, but there are teams that would benefit more from Duren's skillset. They are very different players.

[KG Leonard]

I am shocked when I see the topic then realized it is 2 years old.
Not being nationalist here but I would have Alperen any given day.

I'm Somalian who grew up in Sweden and I would take Sengun over Duren 1000 times over.

Duren can become a good defensive big or Capela at best while Sengun has grown to all NBA level this season. His offensive game, passing and the way he moves specially in the post is potential superstar. He is looking great Vs an all-time defender in Green. The only Rocket young player who looks like a great player. They should build everything around him, you don't have to be Jokic level passer to dominate with the beautiful way Sengun is in the paint, also promising shooting.

[Chuck Everett]

Hmm...

[tmorgan]

Not sure how fans like Duren but didn't like Drummond or Capela

1) Duren isn’t very good right now, we can agree on that.

2) Duren isn’t much like Drummond or Capela, so your point doesn’t make sense.

Ok, so they all can rebound. Capela was, at least for a few years, an actual good rim protector. Drummond never was, and Duren is not. However, Duren is actually an excellent passer for a big (the others never were) and has truly elite hands. Can’t speak on Capela there, but Drummond’s hands were kinda average.

In short —

Capela is/was your standard limited defensive big. Boards, lobs, play finisher.
Drummond is/was an ATG space eater and rebounder. Very limited otherwise.
Duren is an elite rebounder and finisher with great hands, Defense is often poor. Offensive IQ way ahead of defensive IQ.

Duren’s also 21. If this is all he’s gonna be, then yeah, he’s nothing all that special. But he has clearly better touch (FT% much higher), he’s more ferocious (those weak ass Drummond layups drove me insane), and he’s more skilled on offense. If he becomes a smarter defender, he’ll end up a couple of tiers higher and will probably make a bunch of All-Star games. But that’s still an “if” — his defense hurts Detroit right now.

[Wallace_Wallace]

Hard to make the argument for my guy

The jump ball hard tap and the last second inbound made me wanna throw the remote to the TV. To me, we have the athletes but not enough skill player who can make plays, having Sengun would help a lot.