Eye of the Tiger: The Tidjane Salaun Thread

[fatlever]

Yep, context eludes. Some folks here seem to think the Hornets discovered Salaun playing pickup basketball barefoot with a cantaloupe. As JMAC has stated and restated - guy was a starter and significant contributor - at 18 - for a playoff team in a highly competitive French league. He's not some wolf boy you have to teach to use a spoon and toilet. He's a wolf boy who already knows how to use a spoon and toilet.

In other words, 18 = needs developing. Needs developing does not mean he doesn't know how to play basketball.

lol
Barefoot and Cantaloupes: the Tidjane Salaun Thread

Still hoping for Dijon Salmon.

done

[MPM]

i do LOVE that he is described as a "maniacal" worker. we need to surround melo with nothing but guys who put hoops 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. melo is incapable of changing the culture here for the better, so you gotta bring in others to do it. it will rub off on melo or he'll alienate himself from the team.

I really, really hope that some of his family comes to live with him in the States.

[JMAC3]

I compiled all the 3s he has taken via https://www.proballers.com/basketball/player/244780/tidjane-salaun/totals

regular season, playoffs, internation etc...

He has shot 172/509 from 3pt line or roughly 33.8%

He played 2,906 mins- which is more than any hornet played last year.

Per 36 over that span he has attempted 6.3 threes per 36 mins played.

That is one of the higher numbers among Prospects this year.

[NCHeels2008]

I never heard of the dude but **** it I like it. Seems like a 60th percentile scenario would be Lakers Rui which would still be nice to have with Miller, Mark and Ball. In a revisit of the 2000 and 2013 drafts, from my memory as a teen in 2000 Stromile Swift, Darius Miles and Hedo were the upside swings. Miles was a decent starter for a few years, Hedo was really good and Swift was mostly a bust so 1.5/3? The "safe guys" other than Mike Miller busted anyways.

2013 Bennett, Noel, McLemore, Shabazz and Giannis were the upside swings. I'd say that group went 2/5, Noel was a decent starter whose agent arguably ruined his career and Giannis is well GIANNIS. Oladipo was the best "safe guy" from that draft, Otto Porter was an injury plagued but good starter, KCP mostly a good starter, I honestly don't remember how CJ was covered pre-draft other than he torched Duke that year in the tourney.

So feel free to critique but I don't think we will lose sleep over passing on the "sure thing" Clingan, I would've preferred Williams but wtf right, Salaun is our guy now.

[Robot Rock]

I don't get this take. He's never been the one making the final call on who his team drafts.

Maybe for good reason. We'll know soon enough.

It was for an extremely good reason - he's never been the top guy.

I'm acutely aware of that. The concern is that it's possible he shouldn't be the top guy. That part is what we'll know soon enough.

[LofJ]

i do LOVE that he is described as a "maniacal" worker. we need to surround melo with nothing but guys who put hoops 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. melo is incapable of changing the culture here for the better, so you gotta bring in others to do it. it will rub off on melo or he'll alienate himself from the team.

I saw a post on X/Twitter that quoted Tidjane saying he loves LaMelo and modeled his hairstyle after him. I don't know if that's true or not because I haven't been able to track down the video, but the idea of him being a LaMelo stan cracks me up.

[yosemiteben]

Maybe for good reason. We'll know soon enough.

It was for an extremely good reason - he's never been the top guy.

I'm acutely aware of that. The concern is that it's possible he shouldn't be the top guy. That part is what we'll know soon enough.

Sure it's possible, but the fact that he wasn't the top guy before has nothing to do with his own performance. The guy became a GM at age 35 and shot up FO ranks. It's not like he had a damper on his promotions because people questioned his judgment.

You're effectively just saying "maybe he isn't good at his job" without any data, which sure may be true. He also may be the best GM in the history of the league. Or maybe he's totally average in every way. At this point we don't know.

[lmcguir15]

i do LOVE that he is described as a "maniacal" worker. we need to surround melo with nothing but guys who put hoops 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. melo is incapable of changing the culture here for the better, so you gotta bring in others to do it. it will rub off on melo or he'll alienate himself from the team.

This is where I ultimately land when I consider his long term outlook. Raw as he may be, if he has the work ethic and cares enough to improve his game, it will come with time. The issue with Kai/Bouk/Monk was that they were all screw offs. Not one of those guys took their time in Charlotte seriously.

https://www.nba.com/news/hornets-malik-monk-suspended-violating-anti-drug-program

https://fadeawayworld.net/hornets-kai-jones-high-drugs-controversial-instagram-live

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/34830965/police-hornets-james-bouknight-holding-gun-dwi-arrest


Immediately jumping to conclusion of Salaun's story is premature and unfortunately not fair.

[EmpireFalls]

I compiled all the 3s he has taken via https://www.proballers.com/basketball/player/244780/tidjane-salaun/totals

regular season, playoffs, internation etc...

He has shot 172/509 from 3pt line or roughly 33.8%

He played 2,906 mins- which is more than any hornet played last year.

Per 36 over that span he has attempted 6.3 threes per 36 mins played.

That is one of the higher numbers among Prospects this year.

One of my biggest draft takes is that 3PA - not necessarily percentage, but raw 3 pointers made and attempted - correlates better to NBA 3 point shooting than simple percentage.

If I get a guy who makes 2 a game on 33% vs. a guy who makes 0.8 a game on 39%, I'm picking the first guy in a heartbeat to become a legit shooter, it correlates to playstyle.

That being said...



He legitimately only hits them from the top of the key, lol. so unless you want to run a bunch of pick and pop with him, the shot will be a work in progress.

[Chapelchilla]

i do LOVE that he is described as a "maniacal" worker. we need to surround melo with nothing but guys who put hoops 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. melo is incapable of changing the culture here for the better, so you gotta bring in others to do it. it will rub off on melo or he'll alienate himself from the team.

This is where I ultimately land when I consider his long term outlook. Raw as he may be, if he has the work ethic and cares enough to improve his game, it will come with time. The issue with Kai/Bouk/Monk was that they were all screw offs. Not one of those guys took their time in Charlotte seriously.

https://www.nba.com/news/hornets-malik-monk-suspended-violating-anti-drug-program

https://fadeawayworld.net/hornets-kai-jones-high-drugs-controversial-instagram-live

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/34830965/police-hornets-james-bouknight-holding-gun-dwi-arrest


Immediately jumping to conclusion of Salaun's story is premature and unfortunately not fair.

EXACTLY !

The previous guys drafted 3 lazy idiots who had character flaws/substance abuse issues. MJ was probably too cheap to bother with researching their backgrounds.
Meanwhile, Peterson went to France more then once to see this kid and pointed out his tremendous character and work ethic as good reasons to be assured he would continue to do the work. I would still have taken Clingan so that we were assured of having quality bigs for the next few years but maybe they know Mark is actually OK and think Salaun is special. I will let the process play out before getting all hyperbolic or wallowing in sarcasm and misery.

[amcoolio]

I had Matas in my tier 1 with Sarr/Risacher/Reed/Castle/Clingan, that's my only concern...passing on the guy with obvious basketball skills at the same position with the same height. But obviously I was wrong, because several other teams passed too. I had Salaun in the next tier with Holland, Cody, Knecht and Carter, so the pick is not a reach

[lmcguir15]

I had Matas in my tier 1 with Sarr/Risacher/Reed/Castle/Clingan, that's my only concern...passing on the guy with obvious basketball skills at the same position with the same height. But obviously I was wrong, because several other teams passed too. I had Salaun in the next tier with Holland, Cody, Knecht and Carter, so the pick is not a reach

I had Buzelis way above Salaun and that was my only real gripe. Outside of that I wouldn't say they missed out on someone I would've rather had.

[wilson115]

9'2" standing reach, same as Sarr, Nick Richards, and Jarrett Allen (who was also 6'10" in shoes at his draft combine).

There is a night and day difference between Salaun at the beginning of this season versus the end. First, he’s noticeably filled out his frame in just a few months. He still has plenty of muscle to put on, but it bodes well that he’s growing at such a rapid rate right now. It’s likely that Salaun has yet to reach his final height and weight. The possibility of him becoming a 6-foot-10+, bruising wing raises his ceiling significantly.

https://www.poundingtherock.com/2024/6/1/24167536/san-antonio-spurs-prospect-preview-tidjane-salaun-france-2024-nba-draft-victor-wembanyama

Spoiler:

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

[Walt Cronkite]

Easy to like, fingers crossed.

[fatlever]

sounds like team is saying dijon was their #1 target.

[LofJ]

He has the size to play the 5 and not be at a disadvantage against a lot of teams. If he develops it's not hard to envision him as a two-way big/wing hybrid that will give his team a ton of lineup flexibility. A lineup of LaMelo, Miller, Bridges/Wing, Salaun, Williams is freaking huge.

[SWedd523]

sounds like team is saying dijon was their #1 target.

... at 6

there's no way he was #1 overall on their board

[amcoolio]

I have to bet that Reed and Castle were the top targets with Salaun 3rd, maybe even Holland a consideration

[Bassman]

sounds like team is saying dijon was their #1 target.

Well that’s a reach no matter what they say.

[yosemiteben]

If nothing else, dijon is the #1 mustard