I've been standing on the very edge of the Tidjane Salan Canyon for the entire summer; maybe longer.
Why am I comparing Salan and my opinion of him above to a canyon (I promise it's not bad)?
Well, for one: I like metaphors, in case you're new around here. But really, the canyon comparison comes from the feeling that, until recently, Salan had left most of the Hornets community staring down into a canyon of what-ifs and unknowns, wondering what the Frenchman's future might look like.
You couldn't see the bottom, so you kept throwing stuff down there to see how long it took to hit.
So many people threw their opinions down the canyon to see where the bottom was that Tidjane's canyon became full of Summer League turnovers, what-ifs, opinions, and unknowns about Tidjane's future. It was a vast, bottomless pit, we'll just say that.
You may have even heard the echo of "bust" emanating from the bottom of Tidjane Canyon. That's how many way-too-early Tidjane final opinions had been tossed down to test the distance to the bottom. The bottom of that canyon -- the worst of times and performances for Tidjane -- was a dark place, and I'm certain it was just as dark for Salan at times as it was for people wondering how he could contribute to the team long-term.
I think it's finally time to admit that Tidjane is figuring it out; we've all been quick to criticize him, myself included, but I never fully sold out and said, "It's time to give up." I am a big believer in giving guys their flowers when they deserve it, because it's also my job to tell people they've objectively been bad when they've, well, been bad.
The same caveats and reasons I was afraid to jump into the canyon during the offseason, and give up on the freshly turned 21-year-old for good, are quickly proving early this season why I held on to that Tidjane Canyon railing for so long.
It almost broke. Some poor Summer League performances and bad decision-making in past seasons almost made me fall into the darkness of years one and two of Tidjane Canyon and give up for good. But I didn't jump. I couldn't.
He's put on a quite noticeable amount of muscle over his past two seasons-- while we don't have an exact number, he's put on enough muscle for head coach Charles Lee to tell everyone in Media Day last month that Tidjane always seems to have his shirt off at all times around the facility.
Most importantly, he's filling the niche Charlotte NEEDS him to fill -- a role that's completely different than the Summer League role he held, where he had the ball in his hands way more than he ever will with the Hornets. Now that the season's started, he can slide back into the role he's been tediously working to master so he can earn some playing time...
You can see the efforts to master that niche paying off, and it all started on the defensive end for the Hornets' 2024 sixth-overall pick from France. I asked Charles Lee about Tidjane's growth following the conclusion of the Hornets-Wizards game Monday, and Coach Lee echoed what I'd already believed to be true:
"Yeah, I think you're spot on," Lee said. "The thing that I loved about Tidjane is his mindset and his approach coming into the game. You know, most young players think that the best way that you can impact the game is by scoring. I think he has realized that the role that we need of him consistently every night is to be defensively focused and understand what the personnel tendencies are."
Salan only played nine minutes against Miami on the 24th, but those nine minutes -- minutes where he spent a lot of time guarding Giannis defensively -- were some of the best defensive film he's had in his career thus far.
Then, in this Wizards game played right before I asked coach Lee about Salan, he played almost 16 minutes; again, minutes when he often found himself matched up with someone like Anthony Davis. As with his time against Antetokounmpo two nights earlier, he held his own in a way I don't believe we've seen from Tidjane Salan yet.
In Salan's first moment and run of play against the Wizards on the 26th, Tidjane comes in and immediately hits this sequence in consecutive possessions that I wrote in my notebook:
- Gets a rebound on the first defensive possession and hits a three on his first offensive possession right after entering.
- Next possession down defensively, Salan had a layup contest on the other end after his 3-point make.
- Right to the other end again on next offensive set, Salan passed up semi-open 3-pointer -- the kind of semi-open look where his trigger has been way too fast before -- to make the CORRECT extra pass to Dennis Schrder (even though he missed).
- Almost stole an entry pass from AD on the following defensive possession and handled it himself without a double-team against a back-to-the-basket Davis on the low block.
I use this run of play, 1. because I have it in my notes, but 2. because it truly illustrates the small gaps Salan has grown in. I was never worried about his 3-point shot. It's always looked good. My worries have always been:
Can you cut out the hesitation when you are trying to pass the ball? Can you commit to defense like coach Lee alluded to and make it a major part of your game? Can you just generally be more of a controlled ball of energy rather than a bull in a china shop that's strong... but breaks everything along the way?
Salan is finally turning the corner into being exactly that -- more controlled and IN CONTROL of his game and his role, altogether. Lee would continue to boast about Tidjane after my question about the 21-year-old (21 as of AUGUST!):
"Obviously, he was a young player last year trying to learn a totally new basketball game," Lee continued after his earlier quote. "Because he works so hard, (and) he cares so much -- we knew that he was going to make progress. And so, glad to see it translating to the court, because I agree with you: His defensive activity and rebounding has been really good.
"To watch him WANT the matchups; you know, 'Hey coach! Put me on (Giannis) Antetokounmpo,' or, 'Put me on (Anthony) Davis!' and his willingness and readiness to like -- if it's one possession or if it's ten possessions -- he's down for it. And then offensively, I think he's just finding where should he be spacing-wise, how can he keep the offense flowing without having to do too much."
Despite my praise for Salan defensively through 5 games (4 played for Tidjane) so far, ultimately, Lee's last blurb there about his offensive consistency and still needing to grow there is what his next long-term step will be.
The decisions can be crisper, as can the off-ball movement and how Salan instinctively moves into space rather than trying to robotically move in the exact motions of the offense. The whole point of set offense is to get any one player to a spot where they can, in the end, break the rhythm of that set play because the set created an advantage as it was supposed to.
Salan can grow by recognizing those moments when a player decides to take the gap an offensive set has created. In those moments, Salan could cut more instinctively outside the play call. It's in those moments that he can position himself well for an offensive rebound opportunity or be ready to be a first-man back down on defense.
Having those kinds of instincts is natural for some, but for a just-recently-turned-legal-drinking-age Salan -- who didn't play college basketball -- it is something he will have to learn with time. Learning any instinctive skill like that amidst the trial by fire that IS the NBA is hard for anyone. The important thing is he's shown the fact that he can get there...
And all those best flashes that things could genuinely work out for Tidjane Salan in the end have come in a brief four-game stretch in which he never even played 20 minutes.
"The biggest thing that I really appreciate about Tidjane is his commitment to embracing just every bit of the journey, step by step," Lee told Eric Collins before Wednesday's Pistons game. "He didn't play in Game 1, but was ready for his opportunity come Game 2. Just really proud of how he's approached things, how he's matured from that standpoint, and also understanding what his role is."
"We're seeing his defensive impact. He's locked in on that end of the floor, helping us rebound and give us different coverages, but then offensively, playing within himself and being a great connector out on the floor."
There's still a lot to learn, and a lot of room to grow. There's never been a doubt about that; we've known it since Salan was drafted.
But I've never been as confident as I am right now after five Hornets games that he'll actually get there.
Sometimes, it's nice to be wrong.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/nba/hornets/onsi as Tidjane Salan Will Get Team Option Picked Up, & He's Earned It .
