Stock up: Toumani Camara
It’s nearly impossible to quantify the impact Toumani Camara has had on the Blazers. The 52nd pick in this year’s drafted came to Portland as part of the Lillard trade, but he was, understandably, lost in the shuffle of Dame, draft picks, Jrue Holiday and Deandre Ayton.
The 23-year-old played well enough in the preseason and during training camp to earn himself a spot in Billups’ rotation, though, and he hasn’t stopped surprising since the regular season began.
Camara is averaging 5.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game, and none of that seems special. It’s the eye test that shows why his minutes and role have steadily increased through the first three weeks of the year.
Camara is the prototypical glue guy – he’s a good defender, both on-ball and off, and he has a knack for being in the right place at the right time on both ends of the floor.
He’s fifth on the team in minutes played, a much better indicator of his impact than traditional counting stats.
But the most obvious way to calculate Camara’s effectiveness? The Trail Blazers are plus-25 when he plays. No other Portland rotation player is in double digits.