Cade Cunningham and Jalen Green took center stage on Tuesday in a battle of the top two picks in the NBA draft, but it very well may have been a player selected much lower that stole the show.
Cunningham registered a team-high 20 points as the Detroit Pistons lost to Green and the Rockets, 111-91. Green led all scorers in the contest with 25 points as the top two picks helped produce a highly entertaining matchup in the Las Vegas Summer League.
However, Alperen Sengun added theatrics to the marquee matchup.
The 16th pick recorded 21 points, eight rebounds, four blocked shots, three assists and one steal in 25 minutes of work. He finished a plus-22 on the court and converted on 8-of-14 shot attempts from the field, including 1-of-2 from 3-point range.
Sengun got the action started by swatting a shot attempt by Cunningham as a weak-side helper. In fact, Sengun showed plenty of promise on that end. He seems to have a great understanding of the verticality rule when defending in the paint, and had another block in this situation.
On the offensive end, Sengun had everything in his tool chest working.
Sengun pulled up from the NBA logo for a deep 3-pointer on one possession. On another sequence, he gave Tyler Cook a nifty pump fake from the top of the 3-point arc and blew right past him for the jam at the rim in the fourth quarter.
SENGUN SOARIN' ✈️
Alperen Sengun is putting on a clinic against the Pistons! pic.twitter.com/CEwhC4ujC7
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) August 11, 2021
Sengun entered the draft as one of the most versatile big men, and he put each of those skills to the test versus the Pistons. The Rockets executed a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder to take Sengun at No. 16 and it is easy to see why they made it a priority to get him.
The Rockets entered the draft as a team in desperate need of adding talent and they appear to have done just that. They had perhaps one of the best hauls in the draft this year and should be a team to watch this season.
This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
[lawrence-related id=36007,36395,36008]
[mm-video type=video id=01fcs3dv31xq7qqy9p3z playlist_id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01f1jxkahtwnvzepyp image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01fcs3dv31xq7qqy9p3z/01fcs3dv31xq7qqy9p3z-e7e6070b92a9429ad679cf7c2b342cdf.jpg]
[listicle id=36659]