Who’s surprising fans on the Hornets so far this season?

The Charlotte Hornets have had a bumpy start to the 2024-25 regular season. After winning their season opener, they lost five of their next six games. Just as they appear to have turned things around by winning two straight, the Hornets lost against the injury-ravaged Philadelphia 76ers and Orlando Magic.

At 4-7, they are still in the thick of the race for a play-in tournament spot. However, the loss to the Magic shrunk their chances of advancing to the knockout stage of the NBA Cup.

The good news is that several players have stepped up and shown that they deserve to be part of the squad's rotation once it is at full strength. Among those the coaching staff should heavily consider is Moussa Diabate.

Diabate has been a free agency steal for the Hornets

The young Frenchman probably didn't expect to be playing significant minutes this year. After all, he joined a Hornets crew with decent depth at center and power forward, highlighted by Mark Williams, Nick Richards, Miles Bridges, and Grant Williams. Even rookie Tidjane Salaun exhibited the potential to earn a rotation spot during the preseason, even if many folks thought he was still too raw to be playing relevant minutes in the NBA.

Unfortunately, injuries have sidelined several key players. On the bright side, it has allowed coach Charles Lee to give Diabate a trial run. The 22-year-old big man was even Charlotte's first guy off the bench on opening night.

It's safe to say that he has passed the test with flying colors. He has been a towering reason the Hornets are one of the league's best rebounding teams, particularly on the offensive end. Diabate leads the squad in average rebounds per 36 minutes with 16.1.

Impressively, his past three outings saw him pull in 15, 11, and 15 boards. Of course, rebounding is far from his only strength, as his energy has been infectious, and his rim-protecting ability was evident in the Hornets' blowout win against the Indiana Pacers on Friday and Orlando on Tuesday.

Perhaps what Diabate needs to improve on is his assertiveness on offense. He may have turned a corner in that department against the Magic, as he scored a season-high 12 points on 6-7 shooting. That has pushed his field-goal percentage in this campaign to 64.3 percent.

The Hornets did well taking a chance on Diabate this past offseason, a month after drafting another French prospect in Salaun. Fast forward to today, the organization might have to convert his two-way deal to a standard contract, even if it means letting go of another player to make room on the roster.