Thunder Draft Report: French Phenom Tidjane Salaun

The Oklahoma City Thunder have control of the No. 12 pick which could be a prime spot for French swingman Tidjane Salaun.

Tidjane Salaun / Tidjane Salaun / FIBA.com

The Oklahoma City Thunder are fresh off a 57-25 season that saw them win their first playoff series since 2016. Still, the Thunder control the No. 12 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft and have a shot to improve their roster. 

Let’s take a look at Tidjane Salaun and how he would fit into the OKC Thunder system. 

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Draft Profile 

• Height: 6'9
• Weight: 203
• Wingspan: 7'1
• Age: 18 

Quick Scouting Report

The Oklahoma City Thunder could benefit from Salaun's play-finishing ability and overall competitive juice. The 18-year-old is always engaged and moving, bending the defense to find scoring creases or blowing up multiple actions at a time on the other end thanks to his mobility and length.

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Strengths and Weakness

Strengths

Salaun, despite his age, is one of the best cutters in the 2024 NBA Draft class. The Frenchmen is explosive, savvy and wastes no movements in getting past the napping defense. Overall, his awareness and feel for the game puts him in the perfect spot to cap off plays with buckets.

The potential lottery pick is a vertical threat bouncing his way into lobs off of backdoor cuts to go over the top of defenses.

While defenses oftentimes shade away from Salaun in the corner, he is still talented enough to make them pay via his cuts, redirection passing and willingness to shoot. Not being afraid of the moment and popping shots led the youngster to shoot 31 percent from distance and 34 percent on catch-and-shoot chances.

He has fancy footwork and body control which is parlayed into high-end rim-finishing to the tune of 64 percent at the cup. This also makes him a threat flashing through the paint getting the ball at the nail and going to work.

He has an incredibly high motor, offensively willing to cycle through two to four actions a play from screening, flaring, re-screening and cutting. Defensively, the active hands Swiss-Army Knife never takes a play off and is able to make a massive impact.

The tools and raw ability is there for the teenager to turn into an elite play-finishing defender with just a little polish.

His length and elite hips allow him to cut off drivers, switch to every possession, and even defend well in the post with his tenacity and physicality. Understanding where the help is allows him to funnel the action right into trouble and lift up his team defensively.

Salaun will be a member of the All-Juice Team at the end of the pre-draft cycle. His willingness to wrestle away possessions, chirp at opponents and craving the chance to make a play in big moments.

Weaknesses

Overall, Salaun has a smooth jumper though it can use some polishing. His feet fly in an awkward direction and could stand to speed up the shot though with his frame not a requirement.

The only time he struggled at the ring was when he allowed the game to speed him up, more often than not he plays under control, though things go south in a hurry when he doesn't.

At times, his defense suffers from giving too much effort. Sometimes rather than looking to poke every ball loose, chase every long rebound, or run down every loose ball, it is best to stay in position for the sake of securing the stop. Though, this is an easy skillset to learn with experience - and you could rather have a player give too much effort on that end than not enough.

He doesn't project to be a good on-ball offensive weapon. Struggling to shoot off the dribble and is not an impressive live-ball passer.

Availability

• Draft Digest: 12
• Ringer Guide: 12
• ESPN Mock: 8
• The Athletic: 12
• Bleacher Report: 12
• CBS: 10
• Draft Net: 15
• Tankathon: 12

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Thunder Fit

Future Role 

Salaun could eventually become a high-end NBA starter that compliments a fantastic core, the type of player 29 other fanbases look at and want to steal for their own team. Though, it will take some patience which is rarely afforded to players in the modern NBA.

His defensive baseline as a teenager leads you to believe he could be an elite defense weapon with enough offense to truly make an impact.

With Chip Engelland in the fold, the Thunder's history of developing defenders and the luxury of taking a shot at No. 12, Salaun could be the ideal fit for Oklahoma City.

Rotation Fit 

Salaun would likely spend a lot of time - especially early in the season - with the Oklahoma City Blue. A high-end defensive coaching staff led by Kameron Woods who can quickly get him up to speed on that end with the leash to explore offensively.

The Thunder's crowded rotation will not be the most welcoming environment for trial and error, so the Blue would be an added tool.

However, if the defense and cutting ability translate by the mid-way point in the season the rookie could provide a second-half spark for the Bricktown boys.

Ultimately, despite it sounding like a cop-out, his role - playing time-wise - initially would look a lot like Ousmane Dieng's. If he can impress with limited NBA minutes out of the gate, he will stick around the varsity squad, but in practice, it could be best for both sides to park him with the Blue.

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