How Tidjane Salaun Fits in With the Charlotte Hornets Next Season

When the Charlotte Hornets selected Tidjane Salaun sixth overall in the 2024 NBA Draft, a lot of people saw it as a reach. Salaun had only recently turned 19 and was coming off a decent professional season overseas. In his pre-draft season, he averaged 9.7 points and 3.9 rebounds per game in France. Not bad for an 18-year-old playing professionally, but watching his tape was a different story.

Salaun was probably the leading prospect in the 2024 NBA Draft, with a contrast between tapes of his misses and his makes. If you watched just his makes, you saw a 6-foot-9 18-year-old with a 7-foot-2 wingspan flying around the court, dunking with authority, and draining threes. There was a lot to like. If you watched his misses, you saw a kid who sometimes looked like he picked up a basketball for the first time that day.

But the Hornets bet on the upside with Salaun being a young prospect, and in his rookie season, they weren't quite rewarded. He averaged 5.9 points and 4.7 rebounds per game on 33 percent shooting from the field and 28 percent shooting from deep. Truthfully, it was disappointing for a sixth overall pick, even one that's understood to be a project. But with the Hornets' current roster construction heading into the upcoming season, Salaun has a great opportunity in front of him for his sophomore season.

How Can Tidjane Salaun Step Up for the Charlotte Hornets in Year Two?

Mason Plumlee and rookie Ryan Kalkbrenner are the only true centers on the Hornets roster. Plumlee is a 20-minute per game center at best these days, and Kalkbrenner is, of course, a rookie. Moussa Diabate will get some minutes at center as well, but he hardly has a permanent claim to them. Salaun has a chance to help solve the Hornets' shortage of centers.

Salaun himself is not a center, but if he improves as a perimeter shooter and overall feel for the NBA game, he has a chance to be precisely what the Hornets need from their big men this season: play finishing and positional versatility. Without a trade, the Hornets will not be able to play any style that anchors around a natural center who can control the glass. But they do have a handful of players who can play the four, rebound well for their position, and offer spacing and plus-athleticism. Salaun could play next to Plumlee, Kalkbrenner, or Diabate and strictly take minutes at the four.

From there, he could spot-up and cut for lobs like he did regularly back in France. On defense, he can wreak havoc with his length and athleticism on the perimeter as well as offer quality weakside help for the Hornets' centers, who don't pose a notable shot blocking threat. But Salaun could also fit in no-center lineups alongside the likes of Miles Bridges and Grant Williams. Playing alongside these two will let the Hornets have options on offense.

They could take a five-out approach and clear a lot of space for LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller to operate, or Salaun could be their screener, and if he's making more threes, he could offer the threat of rolling or popping as needed. Defensively, the Hornets could look at an aggressive switching scheme more than a traditional drop big and rim protection approach. Salaun, Williams, and Bridges can all guard multiple positions and not only switch on the perimeter - but for Bridges and Salaun at least - also recover and offer rim protection still on opposing drives.

Salaun looked like a better player in his second season of Summer League. He played with more control, made better decisions, converted more two-point field goals, and optimized his physical presence to help his team play better basketball overall. Hornets fans will want to see more, but he is still very young, and if given a lot of opportunities this season, he could make a significant leap.

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