Analyzing the Charlotte Hornets' Expected Decision to Decline Tidjane Salaün's Fourth-Year Option

It appears that the Hornets didn't pick up the fourth-year option on Salaün's contract. Where does it go from here?

IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

It seems like the proverbial light has started to come on for Tidjane Salaün. 

In Saturday night’s loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, Salaün played 12 minutes for the Charlotte Hornets and looked as effective as he has in his any game of his NBA career. He shook a Sixer with a quick hesitation and drove baseline drive for a dunk. He had some moments of sticky individual defense against Jaylen Brown. He nailed a catch-and-shoot three. 

I understand that the bar is still low for Salaun in year three, but that is just the reality of the situation.

His performance against Philadelphia wasn’t anything special, but it was just enough to make out the blurry outline of what Salaün was promised to be when the Hornets selected him with the sixth overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. 

Despite the encouraging early-season returns, recent developments tell us that Tidjane still has to earn his stripes in Charlotte. According to reports, the Hornets will eventually decide to decline the fourth-year option on Salaün’s contract before today's deadline, meaning the 6’11” Frenchman will officially become an unrestricted free agent next summer. 

The Hornets haven't made an announcement on the matter, but when they officially decided to exercise the third-year options on Kon Knueppel and Liam McNeeley without a mention of Tidjane, the writing on the wall became clear.

Let’s talk about what this decision means. But before we do that, let’s talk about what it doesn’t mean. 

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The Hornets' choice here doesn’t necessarily tell us that Tidjane’s time in the Queen City is coming to an end when the final buzzer sounds on the 2026-2027 season.

The fourth-year option on Salaün’s contract would have been worth $10.4M if the Hornets decided to pick it up. Charlotte clearly thinks that price tag is a little rich for a developing player with career averages of 5.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.0 assists on 39/33/69 shooting splits. 

I tend to agree with them. 

I’ve been as bullish as anyone on Salaün’s long-term prospects. However, he doesn’t have a singular defining skill that differentiates him from other developmental projects if you put his unique combination of size, mobility, and energy to the side. 

That blend of traits is useful, but it’s not enough to keep you in the NBA for the long haul if you don't have a stand-out basketball skill that accentuates those physical gifts. Salaün is a good shooter, an improving defender, an inconsistent decision-maker, and generally a poor handler of the basketball.

A jack of some trades, and a master of none.

All of that being said, Charlotte could still re-sign Tidjane to a more team-friendly contract next season and continue to put him through their player development paces if they so choose. 

Something in the three-year, $15M range with team-friendly options or non-guaranteed money baked in could get the job done and provide Salaün with some financial security, while providing the Hornets with some added (everybody's favorite buzzword!) optionality. The good flashes have become consistent enough for me to believe that keeping Salaün in the Hornets' development pipeline is a worthwhile venture.

On the flip side, if the Hornets don't see the young forward as a piece of their long-term future, this decision also makes Salaün an intriguing candidate to be moved at February's trade deadline. It's significantly easier to trade a player on an expiring deal than one who has future financial obligations on his contract, especially when you consider the players that Charlotte might attempt to trade with Tidjane in a deal.

Each of Grayson Allen, Royce O'Neale, and Dennis Schroder are owed money in 2027-28 (assuming Allen exercies his $19M player option). Those three players feel like the most likely trade deadline casualties Charlotte has, and being able to include Tidjane's expiring money to match salaries in a deal could make those players even more tradeable come February.

In totality, a young player like Salaün on an expiring deal who only makes $8.3M in 2026-27 can be sold as high-upside matching salary in a trade, or simply a low-cost flyer on a 21-year-old with theoretical upside (I think the Clippers, who are down on draft capital moving forward, may be interested in that). 

While Salaün’s NBA future is now as murky as it’s ever been, his immediate goals have become crystal clear. 

He’s now playing for his future in the league. 

Everything Salaün does from now until April has to be seen through the lens of a young player looking to secure his professional basketball future, whether that future is in Charlotte or somewhere else.

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