Tidjane Salaün offers a glimmer of hope in his 2025 NBA Summer League debut

Things couldn't have gone much worse for Tidjane Salaün in his rookie campaign with the Charlotte Hornets.

The youngest player in the NBA looked like the baby-faced teenager that Charlotte expected him to be when they selected him with the sixth overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. The selection of Salaün was always a long-term, future-focused play, not a move that planned pay dividends in 2024, making the 2025 Summer League campaign a pivot point in his young career.

Seeing noticeable improvement from Salaün is an absolute must this summer. Nobody is expecting high-efficiency near triple doubles from the young Frenchman in Summer League action, but an increased level of comfort and some baseline on-ball skills are the two things that Charlotte need to see from their burgeoning prospect.

After one game? Check and check.

It wasn't always pretty (it rarely ever is with Salaün), but it was effective.

Tidjane was a force on the glass, leveraging his 6'11", noticeably stronger frame on the glass to pull down boards. When he secured a rebound, the sophomore forward was quick to push the pace in transition (a clear directive from Charlotte's coaching staff), often making the right play to initiate early offense for the Hornets.

In the half court, things seemed to be moving a tick slower for Salaün compared to his hyper-speed rookie year. He was quick to make decisions off the catch, driving into the chest of overmatched defenders to draft fouls.

He recognized mismatches, dishing smart passes to his teammates with a matchup advantage.

He confidently pulled three-pointers from multiple spots on the floor, showing continued comfortability from beyond the arc.

And, in classic Tidjane fashion, he let the crowd and the opposing bench know that he was feeling himself.

However, it wasn't always perfect. Tidjane had his fair share of wild misses from downtown, spraying three-point shots that clanked off all 360 degrees of the rim. His defensive intensity was impressive, but he picked up five personal fouls in 27 minutes of action. And, although things moved slower for Salaün in his first taste of Summer League action as a second-year player, the lack of processing speed still reared its ugly head.

The positive news? The good far outweighed the bad.

Development in basketball is never linear. The hope for Salaun is to grow from being one of the worst rotation players in basketball like he was as a rookie into a league-average forward as a sophomore. The path to stardom is a rocky one, but it has to start with baby steps, and a nice Summer League run for Tidjane will be the first waddles on his way to actualizing his sky-high potential.

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