Hornets Decline Tidjane Salaün's Fourth-Year Option, Setting Up 2027 Free Agency

The Charlotte Hornets declined the fourth-year option on Tidjane Salaün's rookie-scale contract Monday night. Former Charlotte Observer Hornets beat writer Rod Boone first reported the decision.

The option would have paid Salaün $10.4 million in 2027-28. He is making $8,237,880 this season, the third year of his deal, and is now on track for unrestricted free agency in the 2027 offseason.

Charlotte drafted Salaün sixth overall in 2024 out of Cholet Basket in France. He was the first player Jeff Peterson drafted after taking over the Hornets' basketball operations that year.

On Sunday, the Hornets announced they had exercised third-year options on Kon Knueppel and Liam McNeeley, the fourth and 25th picks in the 2025 draft. Knueppel will make $11,017,560 next season, and McNeeley will make $3,040,320. The release did not mention Salaün.

Among players from the 2024 draft, Salaün was the highest pick to have a fourth-year option declined, CBS Sports noted.

Salaün did not play in the Oct. 21 season opener against the Brooklyn Nets, a coach's decision. He has come off the bench in all seven games since and is averaging 4.7 points and 3.7 rebounds in 14.3 minutes. Through those seven games, he is 13-of-29 from the field and 6-of-19 from 3-point range.

He scored 5 points in 12 minutes Saturday as the Philadelphia 76ers won 109-104 at Spectrum Center. Two days later, the Detroit Pistons beat Charlotte 124-91 on the same floor.

In 19 minutes against Detroit, Salaün had 1 point, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. He went 0-of-5 from the field and missed all four of his 3-point attempts.

In 60 games (10 starts) during his 2024-25 rookie season, he averaged 5.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.2 assists, shooting 33.0% overall and 28.3% from three.

After spending nearly all of November 2025 with the Hornets' G League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm, he was recalled Nov. 30. In his third game back, he scored a career-high 21 points in 22 minutes and made 5 of 6 3-pointers during a 111-86 win in Toronto on Dec. 5.

In his second season, he appeared in 37 games off the bench, averaging 6.0 points and 4.0 rebounds. He shot 43.4% from 3-point range, up from 28.3% as a rookie, and 50.3% overall.

Across 104 regular-season games over parts of three seasons, Salaün has averaged 5.8 points and 4.4 rebounds, shooting 38.8% from the field.

Salaün had played two preseason games and was still chasing his rhythm at practice Oct. 12, three weeks before the option deadline.

"I'm completely engaged on what they asked me to do about defense, rebound," Salaün said. "Defense is the main part, that's with my abilities, that's where I can have the most success in this team. And then it's just about play with my strengths, about shoot, about passing the ball, make good screen, running, and with all the new [abilities] I had during the summer, I'm gonna have a better, I would say, a better... Oh, what can I say? Now, put some pressure on the rim."

"Just got to find a way, just like the practice, to put the pressure on the rim and just dunk on someone," Salaün continued. "I think I can get at least, if I have my rhythm, I can get at least one per game."

In the preseason opener, a 124-90 loss to Brooklyn, Salaün played a team-high 28 minutes.

Hornets coach Charles Lee said one of Salaün's slips in the next preseason game pulled two defenders to the ball and opened a lob.

"You could feel his impact," Lee said. "You could feel him in the game, whether he's making shots or missing shots. I thought that he took the right shots. I thought that he helped our offense actually flow a lot better."

"His after actions, he had a couple hit unders and then played in the seam and had a great kick out to somebody, and they missed a three," Lee added. "And he also had a slip that I think all of a sudden put two people on the ball and then created a lob opportunity for Liam to Ryan. And so I think that he's really starting to realize how he can impact the offensive game without even having to score all the time."

"And then defensively, I think his continued physicality and strength, and he's moving really good laterally, he's affecting the defensive side of the floor," Lee detailed. "He had a great slice-out closeout yesterday that forced a missed high-quadrant three. So I've been really impressed with Tidjane's growth."

If Salaün stays with Charlotte past February's trade deadline, the team will hold his Bird rights when free agency opens next summer. Charlotte's first-year offer is capped at $10.4 million, unlike offers from the other 29 teams. If Charlotte trades him before the deadline, his new team gets his Bird rights and the same $10.4 million cap.

In October 2025, the Hornets exercised Salaün's third-year option in the same release that picked up Brandon Miller's fourth-year option. Miller agreed last month to a five-year, $209 million extension.

Charlotte is 3-5 after four straight losses. Before Monday's game, the Hornets announced that Coby White would make his season debut against Detroit.

The Hornets play the Nets (1-6) on Wednesday at Barclays Center. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m. ET.