Once seen as a young stud on the rise, Tre Mann's stock is taking an absolute nosedive here in year five of his NBA career. The point guard spent two and a half seasons with the OKC Thunder before being dealt to the Charlotte Hornets as part of the 2024 trade that landed Gordon Hayward in the Sooner State.
Early results appeared to be absolutely crushing for Oklahoma City and truly inspiring for Charlotte, as Hayward spent just half a season with the Thunder before calling it quits on his playing career, while the former first-round pick was beginning to break out as a budding star.
However, nearly two full years and one crippling back injury removed from the initial trade, it seems that Mann's high-rise trajectory is now plummeting to mediocre levels.
Tre Mann's stock has risen and fallen drastically since leaving Thunder
Mann was selected 18 overall by the Thunder back in 2021 and, by the latter stages of his rookie campaign, worked his way into a regular starting role where he posted impressive averages of 14.9 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.1 steals on 36.0 percent shooting during his final 26 games of action.
Though he certainly showed flashes of high-end potential, due to the influx of top-notch talents that wound up joining the roster over the next few years of his tenure (Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, Cason Wallace, etc.), the guard's time on the floor steadily declined to the point where he went from seeing 22.8 minutes per night in year one to 9.2 minutes in year three.
It wasn't until his move to the Hornets that he once again saw consistent playing time, and, by the 2024-25 season, he was averaging 24.5 minutes a night and dropping 14.1 points, 3.0 assists, and 2.9 rebounds on 40.0 percent shooting from deep.
Unfortunately, his uptick in minutes and production came to a screeching halt just 15 games into the season, when he sustained a disc herniation that kept him sidelined for the remainder of the campaign.
Now a year since this crushing injury, it appears he's fallen well short of reclaiming his status within Charlotte's pecking order, and is posting just 7.8 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per night on 32.2 percent shooting from deep through 28 games played.
Things have gotten so bad, in fact, that since the calendar page flipped to January, Mann has played under five minutes twice and has received five separate DNPs.
The fact that the cellar-dwelling Hornets (16-27) are uninterested in playing the once-promising young prospect should be seen as a major concern.
Perhaps Charlotte will look to trade him ahead of February's deadline. Then again, maybe teams will be deterred from entering discussions, given that his play has stooped so low on the hardwood and that he's attached to a three-year, $24 million deal signed this past offseason.
Regardless of the organization's plans, it's more than apparent that Tre Mann is actively falling apart, with no sign of recovery in sight.