Eye of the Tiger: The Tidjane Salaun Thread

[yosemiteben]

He came from the Hawks who haven't won jack.

No he didn't, he came from the Nets.

He also hired a head coach that had just won a title as top assistant and who before that was top assistant with a perennial contender.

I don't see any traction in arguing that Lee was a bad hire.

What has Lee brought to this offense?

The offense obviously has issues, but I'm not super worried about that long term. The combination of injuries to / lack of availability of playmakers (Mann, Grant, Brandon, Melo) combined with lack of quality backup PG is tough. When Melo is on the floor, we're an above league average offense.

By contrast, on the season our DRTG is 13th in the league. If that holds, it'll be the highest ranked defense we've had since the 2015-16 season. This is basically the same team that was bottom 4 in DRTG last year (overall and post-ASB).

[JMAC3]

He will look a lot better on offense when we also have functional players around him instead of him playing with Elfrid, Baugh and Wendell Moore who were all just signed off the street in the last 10 days.

We need to keep the game simple and organized for him to find success and right now it is anything but that. Watching this team play it's like watching a pickup game at the YMCA where nobody wants to shoot and nobody has any confidence that they can make a shot outside of Miles, LaMelo and sometimes NSJ.

Nurkic is 0-8 from 3 in 3 games and none of them have been close to going in.
Payton is 2-15 from field and has scored 4 pts total in 86 mins played for Hornets.
Moore is 0/4 in his debut.

So yeah Tidjane looks terrible in this helter skelter offense where there is no flow. He has shown flashes when we have a half way decent team around him and things actually look like an NBA team on the floor.

[JMAC3]

Payton is 2-15 from field and has scored 4 pts total in 86 mins played for Hornets.

To make this even worse, none of these 15 shots were even outside of the paint lol.

[JustBuzzin]

I would trade Salaun for Bronny right now.

[MasterIchiro]

I would trade Salaun for Bronny right now.

They will give Salaün through next season and reevaluate him then at the very earliest.

He's not doing himself any favors missing perimeter shots when he lacks the handles to get closer to the basket. Seems to have cement touch.

[JustBuzzin]

I would trade Salaun for Bronny right now.

They will give Salaün through next season and reevaluate him then at the very earliest.

He's not doing himself any favors missing perimeter shots when he lacks the handles to get closer to the basket. Seems to have cement touch.

Its like watching a deer trying to play basketball. Dude seems lost out there.

[MasterIchiro]

I would trade Salaun for Bronny right now.

They will give Salaün through next season and reevaluate him then at the very earliest.

He's not doing himself any favors missing perimeter shots when he lacks the handles to get closer to the basket. Seems to have cement touch.

Its like watching a deer trying to play basketball. Dude seems lost out there.

If you can't shoot, then you must put the ball on the floor, get closer, and finish with soft touch.

He's bad in all core areas of scoring. He can do none of those core scoring skills at a passable level right now.

The outlook would look completely different if he could even do one of those core basic things.

I am feeling crushed by this pick.

[JMAC3]

Rookies last night in NBA

Risacher 11 pts, 4/15 shooting, 12 boards in 24 mins
Castle 10 pts, 4/12 shooting, 10 boards in 26 mins
Salaun 3 pts, 1/6 shooting, 8 boards in 24 mins
Clingan 6 pts, 3/4 shooting 6 boards in 17 mins
Edey 5 pts, 2/6 shooting 11 boards in 22 mins
Da Silva 2 pts 1/2 shooting, 3 pts in 18 mins
Matas 5pts, 2/8 shooting 7 boards in 24 mins
Knecht 0 pts, 0/2 shooting 2 board in 13 mins

Panic!!!!!!!!!!!

[JMAC3]

Rookies last night in NBA

Risacher 11 pts, 4/15 shooting, 12 boards in 24 mins
Castle 10 pts, 4/12 shooting, 10 boards in 26 mins
Salaun 3 pts, 1/6 shooting, 8 boards in 24 mins
Clingan 6 pts, 3/4 shooting 6 boards in 17 mins
Edey 5 pts, 2/6 shooting 11 boards in 22 mins
Da Silva 2 pts 1/2 shooting, 3 pts in 18 mins
Matas 5pts, 2/8 shooting 7 boards in 24 mins
Knecht 0 pts, 0/2 shooting 2 board in 13 mins

Panic!!!!!!!!!!!

Maybe we pump the brakes on Salaun is the biggest bust in NBA History or whatever narrative that is constantly getting pushed.

[Bassman]

Rookies last night in NBA

Risacher 11 pts, 4/15 shooting, 12 boards in 24 mins
Castle 10 pts, 4/12 shooting, 10 boards in 26 mins
Salaun 3 pts, 1/6 shooting, 8 boards in 24 mins
Clingan 6 pts, 3/4 shooting 6 boards in 17 mins
Edey 5 pts, 2/6 shooting 11 boards in 22 mins
Da Silva 2 pts 1/2 shooting, 3 pts in 18 mins
Matas 5pts, 2/8 shooting 7 boards in 24 mins
Knecht 0 pts, 0/2 shooting 2 board in 13 mins

Panic!!!!!!!!!!!

Maybe we pump the brakes on Salaun is the biggest bust in NBA History or whatever narrative that is constantly getting pushed.

For sure no rookie should be pronounced as a jewel or a turd in their first year. And yes this year’s rookie class was pre-ranked among the worst group seen in a long time…and they seem to be validating that. But minimizing Salaun’s poor performances, or more so his clear lack of critical key skills/qualities necessary for NBA success, doesn’t make Tiddy any better as a prospect. We ALL want him to succeed; GM overreached to select him much higher than he should have been, so we’re stuck with him.

I do think this offseason of work will tell the tale. He must work on a lot of things, but building on his strengths will be most important. Better footwork and recognition on defense, emphasis on rebounding, improved shooting at key spots on the court, etc. Couple that with strength training, drills to try and find some HANDS and feel with the ball, passing, etc. Hopefully he comes back much improved, showing us his potential as a rotational player off the bench.

[JMAC3]

Rookies last night in NBA

Risacher 11 pts, 4/15 shooting, 12 boards in 24 mins
Castle 10 pts, 4/12 shooting, 10 boards in 26 mins
Salaun 3 pts, 1/6 shooting, 8 boards in 24 mins
Clingan 6 pts, 3/4 shooting 6 boards in 17 mins
Edey 5 pts, 2/6 shooting 11 boards in 22 mins
Da Silva 2 pts 1/2 shooting, 3 pts in 18 mins
Matas 5pts, 2/8 shooting 7 boards in 24 mins
Knecht 0 pts, 0/2 shooting 2 board in 13 mins

Panic!!!!!!!!!!!

Maybe we pump the brakes on Salaun is the biggest bust in NBA History or whatever narrative that is constantly getting pushed.

Let's all ignore Tidjane is 19 and grades out as one of the better defensive rookies in the class. Much more fun to ignore any of that, label him a bust and ignore all his fellow rookies underperforming. Grass is greener on the other side always!!! Way more fun to cherry pick other rookies best games of the month and ignore the other 80% of their performances... all while putting every single time Tidjane touches the ball under a microscope.

Clingan had 3 blocks last night! Stud, who cares he is grading out as a 13% Def EPM because we don't have to watch him play!!!!

[Chapelchilla]

Guy should be a freshman in college. Tall, Moves well on D and is strong. That draft stunk and we didn't miss out on the next Lebron at the 6th pick.
If he is not getting better next year at this time and then again the following one, don't give him a second contract. It was a bad draft and we brought in a project with higher potential upside , maybe it pays off but if not the opportunity cost was pretty low.

[GiggitySmalls]

Was he high potential or just high measurements? Let's be honest. After every game i am more than justified by my extreme level disgust by this pick. I wanted clingan. Atleast hes playable.

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[Liver_Pooty]

He defends and rebounds well and is ridiculously strong for his age. His stroke is too good to not bare minimum be an average shooter from deep. It’s way too early to bash the kid. Give him at least a couple years. This was literally the worst draft I think I’ve ever seen.

[JMAC3]

Was he high potential or just high measurements? Let's be honest. After every game i am more than justified by my extreme level disgust by this pick. I wanted clingan. Atleast hes playable.

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Clingan is so ass, no offensive game and isn't even good at thing that was supposed to get him drafted- defense.

Off EPM - 37%
Def EPM - 12%
Overall EPM - 22%

At least Tidjane is above average at something 59% Def EPM.
Tidjane averaging 5.1 ppg
Clingan averaging 5.6 ppg.

So Tidjane is grading out much better defensively and averaging 0.5 fewer ppg... but hey let's call one terrible and pine over the other

[Liver_Pooty]

Was he high potential or just high measurements? Let's be honest. After every game i am more than justified by my extreme level disgust by this pick. I wanted clingan. Atleast hes playable.

Sent from my SM-S936U using RealGM mobile app

Clingan is so ass, no offensive game and isn't even good at thing that was supposed to get him drafted- defense.

Off EPM - 37%
Def EPM - 12%
Overall EPM - 22%

At least Tidjane is above average at something 59% Def EPM.
Tidjane averaging 5.1 ppg
Clingan averaging 5.6 ppg.

So Tidjane is grading out much better defensively and averaging 0.5 fewer ppg... but hey let's call one terrible and pine over the other

Yeah people keep saying Clingan and he wouldn’t be the 3rd best center on our roster. Lol

[NCHeels2008]

I think TJ could end up being Rui-ish, not too bad with a pick in a draft this bad

[KirkHinrich12]

Buzellis has the upside they should’ve rolled the dice on. Tidjane was way over drafted.

[KembaWalker]

Buzellis has the upside they should’ve rolled the dice on. Tidjane was way over drafted.

They both have the same degree of interesting upside
Zilch

Scrubby draft, should have traded out

[HornetJail]

Salaun is an unmitigated disaster but it's definitely not Buzelis I'd lose sleep missing out on