The Phoenix Suns included Toumani Camara as part of the Deandre Ayton-Jusuf Nurkic deal with the Portland Trail Blazers. At the time, Camara appeared to be a throw-in piece as a recent No. 52 overall draft selection. In retrospect, he was the focal point of the entire deal.
Neither Ayton nor Nurkic worked out with their respective teams, with the former now with the Lakers and the latter now with the Jazz. Meanwhile, Camara is proving to be more valuable than either center, surprisingly emerging as a key building block in Portland's rebuild.
Phoenix gifted Portland a building block in Toumani Camara
His four-year, $82 million extension tells you all you need to know about how valuable Camara has been for this team. It wasn't even a risk for Portland to take on, as he already justified that contract with his two-way impact last season.
With the direction the league is trending, 3-and-D wings are more valuable than ever. Offensively, teams are constantly hunting for mismatches, diminishing the value of undersized, offensive-minded guards who get exposed (like Trae Young). Conversely, versatile wings who can guard multiple positions become that much more important. And thanks to Phoenix, it just so happens that Portland now has one of the best in the business.
This season, Camara is averaging 12.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.0 steals on 42/34/71 shooting splits. Admittedly, his playmaking leaves something to be desired and is an area that got exposed with the Blazers down so many backcourt options throughout the season. But at full strength, Portland won't need that out of Camara. He's playing outside of his comfort zone this season and is best suited as a fourth, fifth, or even sixth option on a contender. That's what makes him the perfect building block, though, as he's an elite complementary piece that teams covet.
Camara can impact winning without the ball, which is the exact piece Phoenix was missing when their Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, and Bradley Beal trio fell short. To the Suns' credit, they've addressed that roster flaw this season and, as a result, are one of the most surprising teams of the season. But it makes you wonder what a Booker-Durant pairing could've been had they had that missing piece. Fortunately, we'll never know.
Portland did its predraft homework on Camara and was adamant on including him in the deal. And now, we're seeing why they were so high on a late second-round pick.