Fred VanVleet is very high on his younger teammates in Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun. The Houston Rockets signed both Green and Sengun to contract extensions before the start of the 24-25 season that takes them off restricted free agency.
VanVleet believes Green has as much talent at the shooting guard position as any player in the NBA other than Anthony Edwards, comparing him favorably to Devin Booker.
“I don’t know if you can go get another 2-guard with the upside or the talent level,” VanVleet said of Green. “[Anthony Edwards] maybe in Minnesota. I don’t know, does Book have more talent than Jalen, or is he more skilled and more polished and more experienced and older? … I don’t know what Jalen will look like when he’s 26, 27, 28 after playoff series. And that’s the upside, where it’s like potential can get a little intoxicating. He has the talent. There’s no reason for him not to reach that level. He’s got to go through it; he’s got to fail.”
While Sengun’s stats can be compared to Nikola Jokic at a similar age, the comp opposing scouts and execs use for him is Domantas Sabonis.
“His highlights and his flash, everything is loud,” VanVleet said of Sengun. “His mistakes are loud, and his success is loud. Once he gets more where he’s hitting the singles on a daily basis, I think that his potential and his level will continue to grow.”