Charles Lee celebrates Tidjane Salauna for rounding up his game

Friday night brought bad news for the Charlotte Hornets in the form of an ankle injury to Kon Knuepel, who has been the most consistently good rookie in the league this season. Regardless, the Hornets, despite Knuepel’s absence in the second half, cruised to a 120-105 victory over the Orlando Magic — with second-year forward Tidjane Salaun providing some energy off the bench.

Salaun got 22 minutes off the bench, the most for a Hornets reserve on the night. In those minutes, he scored 14 points on 6-7 shooting from the field, and with every pass he looks like head coach Charles Lee trusts him more and more. He also added nine boards, proving that he is a much better force than he was in his first season in the league.

After the game, the head coach of the Hornets praised the 20-year-old forward for be a team player and for contributing not only in the scoring column.

“He’s fully embraced his role. He’s just realizing how much he can impact the game on both ends of the floor without just scoring, and that’s what we’re seeing,” Lee said in his postgame interview, via Hornets Reddit on X (formerly Twitter).

🎙 Charles Lee on Tidjane Salaun: “He’s fully embraced his role. He’s just realizing how much he can impact the game on both ends of the floor without just scoring, and that’s what we’re seeing.”

“We’re seeing more of his well-rounded game, where he jumps… pic.twitter.com/k9McetIIKk

— r/CharlotteHornets (@HornetsReddit) December 27, 2025

Tidjane Salaun is on the rise for the Hornets

Salaun showed that he was a capable shooter and scorer at times during his rookie campaign. But he looked lost in other areas of the game and eventually fell out of favor towards the end of the 2024-25 campaign.

But the Hornets have been patient with him and he’s become a legitimate rotation fixture.

“We’re seeing more of his well-rounded game, where he’s rebounding defensively and guarding multiple different guys. Offensively, that play where he had the opportunity to shoot an off-the-dribble three-back, which he has in the past, and make another pass was very encouraging to see. It just shows how much he can compete, compete with the team,” he added.