After the Houston Rockets traded away Christian Wood, Alperen Sengun became poised to take over the Rockets' starting center mantle. During his rookie year, Sengun showed a rare blend of nimble feet, soft scoring touch, and sublime court vision for someone so young.

The Rockets experimented with bringing him off the bench this season, but it didn't take long for Sengun to establish himself as arguably their best player, fueling the fire of Nikola Jokic comparisons in the process, especially when the two-time MVP is the Rockets center's favorite player.

While Sengun is nowhere near the player Jokic is today just yet, the 20-year old Turkish center may be well on his way. After tallying eight points and eight boards in an off-night marred by foul trouble, Alperen Sengun became the youngest center in NBA history to accumulate 1000 points and 200 assists (20 years, 133 days), beating former Cleveland Cavaliers center Brad Daugherty's record in the process, per Eurohoops.

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Sengun entered the league one year younger than when Nikola Jokic did, giving him a huge headstart in the stat accumulation department. Still, it's difficult not to compare the two's career paths, especially early in their careers.

The Denver Nuggets played Jusuf Nurkic and Nikola Jokic in a timeshare early in the two-time MVP's career, but the Nuggets later came to the conclusion that Jokic was the better piece to build around. (They were right.)

No one knows for sure just how good Alperen Sengun could be. However, Jokic knows that the Rockets must utilize Sengun as the central hub of their offense more often to bring out the best in the young center. And who knows, maybe Sengun could, indeed, make good on his promise as a Jokic-esque player who could lead the Rockets out of their rebuilding phase.