What do new Hornets Tidjane Salaün, KJ Simpson have in common? Something Charlotte needs

Ask Tidjane Salaün what he plans on showing off to the masses now that he’s in the NBA and he quickly mentions his favorite trait.

“My smile,” Salaün, the Hornets’ newest first-round draft pick said Friday afternoon, flashing a mega-watt grin and adding: “I will bring (what) I always did — all of my energy on the court.”

Tabbed as the No. 6 overall selection in the 2024 NBA Draft on Wednesday in a surprise move, Salaün is a raw unfinished product who has the Hornets’ brass salivating. Vice President of Basketball Operations Jeff Peterson can’t stop raving about the 18-year-old Frenchman and it partially stems from his work ethic, which was on full display as soon as Salaün touched down at Charlotte Douglas International Airport on Thursday.

“The first thing I wanted to know is where’s the gym?” Salaün said. “And they told me they were renovating the gym, the arena and I couldn’t go to the gym, the practice facility.”

That was tough to stomach for the hoops junkie.

“For sure, I’m happy to play basketball and to play with a team like that, it’s crazy,” Salaün said. “I play in the gym, like I love basketball and where I am I will play basketball and I will work.”

Introducing Salaün, along with second-round pick KJ Simpson, was the latest piece of business during a busy week for the Hornets that began with Charles Lee’s official unveiling on Tuesday. The duo represents the first two pieces of Peterson’s vision as he attempts to build a new culture within the organization.

Assembling this large jigsaw puzzle is a chore and Peterson has a road map he’s following, which led him directly to Salaün and Simpson.

“They just embody everything that we want to be about,” Peterson said. “They are extremely unselfish. They work, they understand the importance of putting the time in. It’s the only way you are going to get the results that you want. They compete and they just have an amazing outlook and approach in terms of how to get better on a daily basis. So these two guys just embody exactly what we want to be about going forward.”

Lee nearly leaped out of his seat describing Salaün and Simpson.

“Talking to Jeff, he threw some names out to me as I was on my playoff journey,” Lee said. “I got even more excited about this job seeing the type of caliber player and people and his front office team had kind of identified as potential Hornets.

“And so watching film of both these two players, you got me excited with their competitive nature. If we start to bring a new brand of basketball to Charlotte, these guys embody what when you talk about the type of people they are and also the way they play the game. Both are very unselfish.”

Simpson, a California native, is already at home in the Carolinas and he hasn’t even been here for 24 hours. It’s partially because he sees so much of what’s happening with the Hornets mirroring his time in the midwest playing in the Big 12.

Hearing Peterson discussing the Hornets’ culture brought a smile to his face.

“Honestly, when he was talking about all those things,” Simpson said, “it was very similar to Colorado and what Coach (Tad) Boyle had there and what all the coaching staff kind of embodies, the culture that they have. So, it kind of fits right into what I’m used to and the person that I am. That’s on the court and off the court as well.

“He just talked about how this fanbase is hungry to win, and that’s something that the Colorado fan base is hungry to do. So, coming here, it’s the same situation here in a sense and I’m excited to kind of ramp that up and get going.”

That’s exactly how Salaün feels, too.

“I think we are on the same page,” Salaün. “I work hard, I play hard and they want the same thing. So, it’s cool to get some coach available to work with me when I want, when I need. So, that’s how I fit with them.”

And in turn, it keeps Peterson’s wheel in motion as he builds out the roster seeking more pieces to add. It’s going to be methodical, but halting the NBA’s longest playoff drought will be a process.

Why? Because the end game is all about sustained success.

“Everything that we do in terms of our plan and our path,” Peterson said, “is going to be very strategic in order to achieve that goal for us.”

Miller nabs spot on USA Select

Brandon Miller’s summer just got a little busier.

Miller has been named to the 2024 USA Basketball Men’s Select Team, USA Basketball announced on Friday. The second-year guard/forward will train in Las Vegas with the USA Basketball men’s national team from July 5-8 as it prepares for the Olympics in Paris in August.

It’s yet another accolade for Miller, who finished third in the NBA’s rookie of the year voting behind San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama and Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren. He was also a first-team all-rookie selection.

Las Vegas Summer league schedule announced

Along with participating in the California Classic, which tips off in a week, the Hornets will be competing in the NBA’s annual Las Vegas Summer League. Here is the schedule, released Friday:

July 13: vs. New York, 5 p.m. ET

July 16: vs. Denver, 6 p.m. ET

July 17: vs. Boston, 5:30 p.m. ET

July 19: vs. Portland, 11 p.m. ET