Tidjane Salaun is heading into the 2026-27 season with a real opening in front of him.
Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz pegged the Charlotte forward as the Hornets’ top breakout candidate, and the path is easy to see. Charlotte traded Miles Bridges to the Phoenix Suns, clearing a spot in the rotation and putting more attention on Salaun heading into his third year.
“Salaun will need to prove in training camp that he's ready for a bigger role,” Swartz wrote. “Last year's starting power forward Miles Bridges has since been traded, although Naz Reid, Royce O'Neale and Dorian Finney-Smith have all been added to the fold. Reid will either start or have a big role off the bench, though Salaun should be able to beat out the other veterans and carve out more minutes for himself in his third year.”
Charlotte took Salaun with the sixth overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, and he spent last season showing flashes in a limited sample. The 21-year-old played in 37 games and averaged 6.0 points and 4.0 rebounds while shooting 50.3% from the field, 43.4% from three and 65.0% at the line.
He’s expected to come off the bench next season, with head coach Charles Lee widely projected to start Coby White, Brandon Miller, Kon Knueppel, Naz Reid and Moussa Diabate.
Salaun, who was born and raised in France, has career averages of 5.9 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. With a bigger role potentially available, next season will be a good test of what he can do with more minutes.
The Hornets finished 44-38 last season and missed the playoffs by one game after dropping the 8-9 NBA play-in game to the Orlando Magic. Rather than keep the roster intact, Charlotte made major changes, sending LaMelo Ball to the Minnesota Timberwolves and Bridges to Phoenix while adding Reid, Grayson Allen, Royce O'Neale and Dennis Schroder.
Charlotte opens the 2026-27 season on the road against the Brooklyn Nets, then returns home for its opener against the Atlanta Hawks.
The Hornets did not reach the playoffs during the Ball-Bridges era, and they have not been back since 2016. Now, in the first season after that core has been broken up, Charlotte will try to end the drought.
In Other News...
Hornets Face A Huge Brandon Miller Decision Before The Stakes Rise
Keyonte Georges new five-year, $157.5 million rookie-scale extension has added another layer to the fall extension season, and Brandon Miller now sits in the middle of it for Charlotte. NBA insider Shams Charania reported that Miller and Detroits Ausar Thompson are in active talks with their teams, alongside a broader group of young players including Cason Wallace, Brandin Podziemski, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Anthony Black, as front offices continue sorting out their long-term plans before the season gets rolling.
For the Hornets, the timing matters because Miller is already central to the franchises future and any agreement would set the tone for how Charlotte handles its rising core. The market for this class is moving quickly, Thompsons situation is said to be trending toward a deal, and the next round of extension discussions could come in the coming days and weeks, which means the Hornets may not have much time to let this one breathe before the pressure ramps up. [Read more 🡒]
Hornets Fans Face A Big Change In How They Watch This Season
Hornets fans are going to have a different kind of setup when it comes time to follow the team next season, with Charlotte lining up a new direct-to-consumer media partner to handle local viewing. The move is aimed at giving viewers across the Carolinas a more flexible way to watch games, with streaming options built around live and on-demand access rather than the old one-size-fits-all approach.
DAZN will carry 75 Hornets games in 2026-27, and for many fans the bigger shift may be how much of the schedule lives behind that platform. The service is offering several subscription plans, including a premium tier that adds alternate feeds, multiview and discounts on Hornets merchandise and tickets, which makes the change as much about the broader fan experience as it is about simply finding the game on TV. [Read more 🡒]
Hornets Already Face One Huge Doubt After Moving On From LaMelo
Trading LaMelo Ball has pushed the Hornets into a new phase, with the franchise now trying to build around Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel. The move gives Charlotte a clearer direction, and it comes with some future draft capital to keep the long view alive, but it also leaves the organization with a very real question at the center of everything it is doing now.
On the surface, the pivot makes sense for a team looking for a reset. But the skepticism from around the league has been hard to miss, with Tim McMahon and Brian Windhorst both openly wondering whether Miller and Knueppel can grow into the kind of cornerstone players Charlotte needs to replace what it gave up. That uncertainty is what makes this stretch so important for the Hornets, because the plan is now in place even if the payoff is still far from guaranteed. [Read more 🡒]