Tidjane Salaün check-in: Evaluating the Hornets rookie following his best G-League performance to date

Checking in on Tidjane Salaün.

Matt Alquiza | Jan 30, 2025

Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

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Charlotte Hornets

Tidjane Salaün was never supposed to produce for the Charlotte Hornets in 2024-25. The 19-year-old rookie was selected with the sixth overall pick from Cholet Basket with a long-term developmental plan in mind as Jeff Peterson and company attempt to build a championship roster around LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, and Mark Williams.

However, Salaün intoxicated fans with a blistering shooting display in the preseason and expectations for the rookie soared. Those same fans were sobered up quickly when Tidjane struggled during the regular season before he was transferred to the Greensboro Swarm for some extra court time and more specified development with DJ Bakker's G-League squad.

Salaün took the floor for the Greensboro Swarm on Wednesday night and turned in the best performance of his brief G-League stint, finishing the win with 23 points, six rebounds, and four made threes in 34 minutes of action. Here are some takeaways from Salaün's performance.

Tidjane Salaün had a good game for the Greensboro Swarm yesterday, contributing to their 104-98 away win. He's starting to look more comfortable in the G League environment.

👌 23 PTS, 6 REB, 4 3PM pic.twitter.com/V3VbNuX22B
— /r/CharlotteHornets (@HornetsReddit) January 30, 2025

The good from Salaün's most recent outing

Confidence

This has never been a problem for the 19-year-old. Salaün believes that he can get a bucket every time he touches the ball (for better or for worse). Although the results were varied, Tidjane was wholly unafraid to fire away from three, drive past closeouts, and attack the rim when handling in transition; three things that the G-League environment allows him the freedom to try.

On one specific instance, Salaün had the ball in transition, looked up and saw the slow-footed Drew Timme ahead of him, attacked Timme's back foot, and finished over the former Gonzaga star for a slick deuce. It was a confident, decisive, and simple move from Salaün that Charlotte would like to see more of.

Shooting

This is Salaün's calling card. Before Wednesday night Salaün was shooting 17% from three in the G-League, but he knocked down four threes on nine attempts against the Long Island Nets. Tidjane confidently sunk jumpers both off the catch and off the bounce, and when he gets rolling, he can still be a real weapon from behind the arc.

Spatial awareness on offense

Tidjane spent most of the game on offense operating in the dunker spot and spacing in the corner. A handful of his buckets came from well-timed, hard cuts off an unaware defender's back shoulder. Due to his lack of on-ball creation ability, Salaün's bread will be buttered by finding ways to get easy looks set up by his playmaking teammates, and he did a great job of that on Wednesday evening.

The bad from Salaün's most recent outing

Defensive awareness

For as good as Salaün's offensive awareness was, his defensive awareness was equally as bad. On three separate occasions Tidjane was caught ball-watching as his man cut backdoor for an easy look at the rim. Mental lapses are expected for someone who is still new to the professional game, but if Tidjane plans to work his way back into the Hornets' rotation this season, this is an easy thing to clean up.

Driving without a plan

Salaün gets into the paint off of a drive or in transition and has no idea what to do with the ball. Instead of attacking a defender's chest and finishing through contact or drawing a foul, Tidjane attempts wacky layups from all sorts of angles that have no chance.

A simplified plan of attack would do him well. Personally, I'd prefer to see Salaün get his shot blocked on an aggressive, measured attempt instead of seeing him miss wild attempts from ungodly angles.

Ball handling

This is the biggest wart in Salaün's game. The gangly teenager often thinks and moves too quickly, either leaving the ball behind him in transition or opening it up to get stripped. The biggest leap Salaün can make in Greensboro or this summer is with his handle. If he can become even a passable ball handler, the rest of his tools (size, strength, shooting ability) will take a leap as well.

In all, Salaün is still the same guy Charlotte drafted in July: a toolsy, 6'9" big-bodied forward that has a ton of room to grow. The rookie's feel for the game on offense stood out on Wednesday night, but his problems with rudimentary skills like rim-finishing, ball handling, and defensive awareness still have a long way to go before he can make an impact with the senior club.

However, he's 19. He's been in Charlotte's program for six months. The time to revisit Salaün's potential or lackthereof will be next April when he's had two full NBA/G-League seasons under his belt.

For now, enjoy the ride and track his development. Salaün is a fun prospect to dissect and one that is still a key piece in the Hornets' rebuild.