The Hornets non-starter with the most pressure to perform next season

When a team is in the midst of a rebuild, hitting on draft picks is crucial.

What's even more crucial is hitting on top ten selections. While some fans want to see their team draft the flashy young guy with high upside, other fans want to see their team select someone safe, who will come in and make a positive impact on day one.

Almost nobody wants to draft the guy who needs years to develop before he can be considered an NBA level player. So naturally, last season the Charlotte Hornets did that, selecting forward Tidjane Salaun out of France.

Salaun's rookie season was...disappointing. He averaged 5.9 points across 60 games, shooting 33% from the field and 28.3% from three. Tidjane had his moments where he looked like a potential star in the league, but those moments flashed rarely. He had a significant number of moments where he looked like he might be back in France before he turns 25 years old.

"(Tidjane Salaun) had a season that was consistent with the second youngest player in the NBA. There were some good moments, some not-so-good moments, but none of that came as a surprise to us; we knew it was going to be a learning curve." President of Basketball Operations Jeff Peterson said about Salaun's rookie season.

During the exit interviews, Tidjane spoke highly about his excitement for the offseason.

"I love the offseason," Salaun said. "It's one of my favorite moments of the year. Like every year, that's the moment where I put in the work, and I do everything to be the most successful, best version of me. All the work I'm going to do is going to be important for me to be better next season, and to be ready for another year and another opportunity."

While we still have to wait a few more months before seeing Tidjane in live NBA action again, there's been no shortage of workout videos and Summer League action to get excited about Salaun's sophomore season.