What a Tidjane Salaun leap could bring the Charlotte Hornets roster in 2025-26

Being part of a Fantasy Football league, drafting is hard.

Some picks are safe, obvious hits. Others are complete risks that could result in an entire season being derailed. It's what makes playing the game fun, but also extremely stressful on draft night.

Now imagine that, but in a professional sports league that could make or break both your team and your job. It's what every general manager has to go through on draft night, and the pressure grows when owning a lottery pick. Missing on a high lottery pick in the middle of a rebuild can derail a team quickly. It essentially wastes an entire season and leads the fanbase to start to question the abilities of their general manager.

Last year, the Charlotte Hornets selected French forward Tidjane Salaun with the 6th overall pick. It was a bold move, with many wanting the team to select Matas Buzelis, Donovan Clingan, or Dalton Knecht.

What was so interesting about Salaun is that it was widely known the French product was a project. That he would need a few years before being able to contribute meaningful minutes at the NBA level. It should not have been a shock to anybody that Salaun had a disappointing year, yet, there was still shock by fans of the team.

Salaun was definitely disappointing in his first year, as there were points during the season where it genuinely looked like he had never picked up a basketball in his entire life. He averaged 5.9 points during 60 games with the team, but his play towards the end of the season was promising.

From March 2nd on, Tidjane averaged 8.3 points, 6 rebounds, and 1.9 assists across 16 games. He shot 39.4% from the field and 31.8% from three, which, while still not great, were improvements from his overall season stats.

As the Summer League rolled around, eyes started to shift back to Salaun. While all the new rookies were going to be exciting to watch, it was time to see if last year's sixth overall pick had made any improvements to his game. With a strong lack of frontcourt play, a fantastic Summer League performance could lead to an increase in minutes out of the gate for Salaun.

And he performed. 18 points, 6.5 rebounds, and a block during his three games with the team, and his confidence in having the ball in his hands and his jumpshot were thrilling to watch. His play was crucial to the team winning the Summer League title, too, even though he did not end up playing in that game.

What a leap could bring

Apr 9, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Charlotte Hornets forward Tidjane Salaun (31) arrives at the Scotiabank Arena before a game against the Toronto Raptors. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images | Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images

If Tidjane is to take a leap and look more like the player the Hornets drafted, there is a clear pathway to minutes. There is not much depth at the frontcourt position, with Grant Williams, Ryan Kalkbrenner, and Mason Plumlee as the only viable backup options there right now.

His ability to guard the paint would be a huge addition to the squad right now. Grant is a good paint defender, but he is undersized. Miles is a liability in the paint. Improved play from Tidjane could give the Hornets more help down low, giving the squad much-needed rim protection.

His jumpshot would also be a welcome addition. Out of the three other big men named above, 1.5 of them can shoot. Williams can hit at around a 38% clip, and Kalkbrenner still needs to develop more. Salaun has shown a willingness to shoot the ball, and could give the Hornets even more spacing from three. Charles Lee's offense is heavily revolved around shooting, so having a big man who can shoot and defend the paint could give him great flexibility with lineups.

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