Eye of the Tiger: The Tidjane Salaun Thread

[countryboi]

This draft was thin as prison toilet paper. Four to five years from now, we may look back and identify maybe 5 to 6 guys who turned out to be decent. With that in mind, No one is expecting Tidjane to change the franchise; he is here to be a D3 glue guy. I think a career path similar to Nic Batum's is very doable.

I can see him being an Uber Marv Williams. I think at least he will be a mighty fine role player.

The only player I REALLY wanted was Castle, I was ok with Knecht, Holland, Edey.

I really wanted Reed. I was okay with Knecht or Buzelis, but I thought Clingan didn't make sense if Mark was healthy. That's on me. He is never going to be healthy.

[JMAC3]

Speaking of Clingan:

“When Williams sat out the back end of a back-to-back, lottery pick Donovan Clingan stepped in with 17 points, 12 rebounds and eight blocks.”

Yeah, he’d be pretty good here too !

This is the difference between him being on our team vs another team. If he was on our team we would be talking about the other 13 games non-stop, but because he isn't on our team we can play coy and just ooh and ahhh over his best game.

[Diop]

Speaking of Clingan:

“When Williams sat out the back end of a back-to-back, lottery pick Donovan Clingan stepped in with 17 points, 12 rebounds and eight blocks.”

Yeah, he’d be pretty good here too !

This is the difference between him being on our team vs another team. If he was on our team we would be talking about the other 13 games non-stop, but because he isn't on our team we can play coy and just ooh and ahhh over his best game.

if we can cherry pick, I'm taking Edey's 25, 12, 4 night where he hit 11/12 shots including 100% from 3.

[Bassman]

Speaking of Clingan:

“When Williams sat out the back end of a back-to-back, lottery pick Donovan Clingan stepped in with 17 points, 12 rebounds and eight blocks.”

Yeah, he’d be pretty good here too !

This is the difference between him being on our team vs another team. If he was on our team we would be talking about the other 13 games non-stop, but because he isn't on our team we can play coy and just ooh and ahhh over his best game.

And others here can keep oohing and ahhing over Salaun hitting more than 1 shot in a game. All that potential though…

[JMAC3]

Speaking of Clingan:

“When Williams sat out the back end of a back-to-back, lottery pick Donovan Clingan stepped in with 17 points, 12 rebounds and eight blocks.”

Yeah, he’d be pretty good here too !

This is the difference between him being on our team vs another team. If he was on our team we would be talking about the other 13 games non-stop, but because he isn't on our team we can play coy and just ooh and ahhh over his best game.

And others here can keep oohing and ahhing over Salaun hitting more than 1 shot in a game. All that potential though…

I haven't seen anyone touting Salaun as some star, the best rookie, or glorifying him. If anything the most it is people saying he is solid in response to people saying he sucks.

Trailblazers are -10 points worse per 100 possessions than their opponent when Clingan is on the floor. When Clingan is off the floor the Blazers as a whole are 6 points better. So yeah hard to believe that if he were on the Hornets everyone would have nothing but good things to say.

[GoBobs]

This is the difference between him being on our team vs another team. If he was on our team we would be talking about the other 13 games non-stop, but because he isn't on our team we can play coy and just ooh and ahhh over his best game.

And others here can keep oohing and ahhing over Salaun hitting more than 1 shot in a game. All that potential though…

I haven't seen anyone touting Salaun as some star, the best rookie, or glorifying him. If anything the most it is people saying he is solid in response to people saying he sucks.

Trailblazers are -10 points worse per 100 possessions than their opponent when Clingan is on the floor. When Clingan is off the floor the Blazers as a whole are 6 points better. So yeah hard to believe that if he were on the Hornets everyone would have nothing but good things to say.

Clingan has an 18 PER, a 60% true shooting percentage, and is averaging 12, 12, and 4.8 blks per 36

Salaun has a 5.5 PER, a 38% true shooting percentage and is averaging 7.6, 8.5, and 0.6 blk per 36

which guy would you rather have right now?

[JMAC3]

And others here can keep oohing and ahhing over Salaun hitting more than 1 shot in a game. All that potential though…

I haven't seen anyone touting Salaun as some star, the best rookie, or glorifying him. If anything the most it is people saying he is solid in response to people saying he sucks.

Trailblazers are -10 points worse per 100 possessions than their opponent when Clingan is on the floor. When Clingan is off the floor the Blazers as a whole are 6 points better. So yeah hard to believe that if he were on the Hornets everyone would have nothing but good things to say.

Clingan has an 18 PER, a 60% true shooting percentage, and is averaging 12, 12, and 4.8 blks per 36

Salaun has a 5.5 PER, a 38% true shooting percentage and is averaging 7.6, 8.5, and 0.6 blk per 36

which guy would you rather have right now?

I don't think either guy is a difference maker right now, so I could care less who we have for the next 10 games of the season.
Clingan is also averaging 6.2 fouls per 36 compared to 2 fouls for Tidjane.

Salaun is averaging 3.4 pts and 3.8 reb.
Clingan averaging 5.7 pts and 5.6 reb.

It is laughable how much people are pinning for a guy putting up the same stats as 34 yr old Mason Plumlee.

[luciano-davidwesley]

PER and true shooting percentage are always padded when you are a 7 foot+ center. Mark Williams was putting up ungodly true shooting percentages and PER numbers last year before he got injured.

[Diop]

And others here can keep oohing and ahhing over Salaun hitting more than 1 shot in a game. All that potential though…

I haven't seen anyone touting Salaun as some star, the best rookie, or glorifying him. If anything the most it is people saying he is solid in response to people saying he sucks.

Trailblazers are -10 points worse per 100 possessions than their opponent when Clingan is on the floor. When Clingan is off the floor the Blazers as a whole are 6 points better. So yeah hard to believe that if he were on the Hornets everyone would have nothing but good things to say.

Clingan has an 18 PER, a 60% true shooting percentage, and is averaging 12, 12, and 4.8 blks per 36

Salaun has a 5.5 PER, a 38% true shooting percentage and is averaging 7.6, 8.5, and 0.6 blk per 36

which guy would you rather have right now?

again Edey has 65% true shooting and his per 36 is 20, 12.4 and 1.8 blks and thats on a winning team.

I'm still not upset with Salaun.

[EmpireFalls]

It’s not Salaun I really have an issue with it’s Jeff Peterson for taking him #6, and also for trading for Josh Green. When the first two guys you bring into the building are THESE guys it signifies a concerning lack of vision and talent ID.

Salaun is a trier and may eventually become playable, in the distant future, but a core building block on a contender, you’re having a laugh. The gap between him and rookie PJ is just gigantic.

Look at the massively more fluid, controlled, skilled, and intelligent play from PJ here. https://youtu.be/i90K3JZVH-o?si=BYhRx5yOdw6L5XPb The way he moves, the way he dribbles, his footwork, everything. Salaun has very little control over himself, limited burst, and is incredibly stiff. He miles and miles to even get to this rookie PJ level as an athlete, let alone as a basketball player - and many of us questioned whether PJ was a core building block himself.

Jeff’s talent ID concerns me heavily

[GiggitySmalls]

its weird to me how many people have made their mind up about a kid that is 19 and very very raw

Hard to be enthusiastic about a dude who's shoots 26%

Sent from my SM-F936U using RealGM Forums mobile app

Kevin Durant shot 28% from 3 his rookie year lol we really doing this?

He shoots 26 overall

Sent from my SM-F936U using RealGM Forums mobile app

[vexco]

It’s not Salaun I really have an issue with it’s Jeff Peterson for taking him #6, and also for trading for Josh Green. When the first two guys you bring into the building are THESE guys it signifies a concerning lack of vision and talent ID.

Salaun is a trier and may eventually become playable, in the distant future, but a core building block on a contender, you’re having a laugh. The gap between him and rookie PJ is just gigantic.

Look at the massively more fluid, controlled, skilled, and intelligent play from PJ here. https://youtu.be/i90K3JZVH-o?si=BYhRx5yOdw6L5XPb The way he moves, the way he dribbles, his footwork, everything. Salaun has very little control over himself, limited burst, and is incredibly stiff. He miles and miles to even get to this rookie PJ level as an athlete, let alone as a basketball player - and many of us questioned whether PJ was a core building block himself.

Jeff’s talent ID concerns me heavily

So, your issue is talent ID because of a 15 game stretch in a gigantic step up in competition from his previous team? And for taking Green for effectively nothing? Even though he's clearly our best defender and we look like a much better team lately when he's been aggressive.

Who cares if he's not great right now?

[Bassman]

None of us can be “right” on Salaun at this point. I am of the camp that believes picking him at 6 was a huge screw up relative to his long term potential and the needs of this team verses the alternative options available at that point in the draft. Others here are perfectly happy with a very young pick with potential, who don’t care how he looks now, and believe he will blossom into a better player years from now than Clingan or similar options will be.

[GoBobs]

PER and true shooting percentage are always padded when you are a 7 foot+ center. Mark Williams was putting up ungodly true shooting percentages and PER numbers last year before he got injured.

but.. this is the whole problem...

Why doesn't Salaun get any bunnies to bring up his true shooting percentage?

He doesn't have to be some high volume scorer, but you need your energy/hustle guy to at least be an efficient garbage man and come up with some easy put back or dunks around the basket over the course of a game.

[KembaWalker]

PER and true shooting percentage are always padded when you are a 7 foot+ center. Mark Williams was putting up ungodly true shooting percentages and PER numbers last year before he got injured.

but.. this is the whole problem...

Why doesn't Salaun get any bunnies to bring up his true shooting percentage?

He doesn't have to be some high volume scorer, but you need your energy/hustle guy to at least be an efficient garbage man and come up with some easy put back or dunks around the basket over the course of a game.

I like Tidjane but he’s got about as much chance of dunking as LaMelo on any given play. Needs a full runway with nobody in sight. Waiting for the grand reveal that he’s been playing with Dragon Ball Z weighted clothes on for training cause it’s bizarre with his physique and age to be so vertically challenged

[Snidely FC]

Lakers roster is great fit for Knecht. With Lebron AD and Reeves he's got open 3s all day long. What's to say you put Salaun in that spot and he's not schwacking 3s all day long too? If Salaun was schwacking 3s right now everybody would be going nuts over his potential. It's also entirely possible that in 4 years (when TeJean is Knecht's age) he will be as good a shooter as Dalton.

Peterson himself said, after the draft, ultimately Salaun's shooting was going to be the differentiator.

“Young, athletic, plays hard. I think he’ll be able to shoot. I know he didn’t shoot it great this season, but I do think he’ll be able to shoot though. I just love the makeup of this guy. The thing I love about this guy is he plays so freakin’ hard on the defensive end. He can guard multiple positions, he takes pride on that end of the floor. I love his running patterns, he never clogs the lane. He’s always spacing to the wings or to the corners. I think he almost identifies as being a guard or wanting to play on the perimeter which is encouraging. He wants to be great. All the things you can’t teach, he has those intangibles. Again, with him, it’s just going to be about the shooting piece ultimately.”

[Bassman]

IF Salaun was shooting like other rookies…IF Salaun was swishing open 3’s…IF Salaun was locking down players defensively…IF Salaun was dunking on people instead of getting blocked at the rim…

But he isn’t and he doesn’t and he’s not. At least not yet.

Peterson put too much into his personality, his intangibles. His mantra has been “culture change”. So he saw Salaun as an agent of change because of his intangibles. He also believed Salaun would grow into a significant player over time. I sure hope he is right.

[EmpireFalls]

It’s not Salaun I really have an issue with it’s Jeff Peterson for taking him #6, and also for trading for Josh Green. When the first two guys you bring into the building are THESE guys it signifies a concerning lack of vision and talent ID.

Salaun is a trier and may eventually become playable, in the distant future, but a core building block on a contender, you’re having a laugh. The gap between him and rookie PJ is just gigantic.

Look at the massively more fluid, controlled, skilled, and intelligent play from PJ here. https://youtu.be/i90K3JZVH-o?si=BYhRx5yOdw6L5XPb The way he moves, the way he dribbles, his footwork, everything. Salaun has very little control over himself, limited burst, and is incredibly stiff. He miles and miles to even get to this rookie PJ level as an athlete, let alone as a basketball player - and many of us questioned whether PJ was a core building block himself.

Jeff’s talent ID concerns me heavily

So, your issue is talent ID because of a 15 game stretch in a gigantic step up in competition from his previous team? And for taking Green for effectively nothing? Even though he's clearly our best defender and we look like a much better team lately when he's been aggressive.

Who cares if he's not great right now?

Yes. Talent ID, man, talent is something you can see right away. Physical aptitude. Salaun has two physical traits - he’s huge, with a big wingspan. He runs decently fast. Other than that, I think his athleticism is way worse than even someone like PJ, as I showed above.

Salaun lacks explosiveness to a huge degree, his athleticism has been way overrated. He's nowhere near as fluid, explosive, or controlled as we were lead to believe. He's a very out of control, heavy-footed player. Again look at the PJ video and ask if Salaun could do any of that without tripping over himself. He doesn’t even get off the floor that quickly.

This is before we even talk basketball at all. Simply his athleticism is a big concern.

As for Green, when you get outplayed by Cody Martin over a 15 game sample, consider me unimpressed.

[yosemiteben]

I don't know why PJ is a relevant data point here, but if Salaun is like PJ and fails to meaningfully improve his stats since his rookie year, I will consider that to be a disappointment.

[Braggins]

PJ also turned 21 years old a couple months before his rookie season. His draft age was pretty much exactly two years older than Salaun's. Salaun will be the same age going into his third NBA season as rookie PJ.

I do think there is some merit to the comparison, but I actually think if anything it is kind of positive for Salaun. Salaun is the same age as PJ in his freshman NCAA season and it is not hard to imagine him surpassing PJs production if he was playing in the NCAA right now (10.8 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 1.5 apg, 0.8 spg, 0.8 bpg, 51.9%/23.8%/60.6% shooting).