Teams around the league covet the 3-and-D player archetype in the modern NBA, and it just so happens the Portland Trail Blazers have one of the best in the business. Better yet, they have him secured long-term on a team-friendly deal, thanks to an extension that looks better by the day.
The Blazers inked two-way wing Toumani Camara to a four-year, $82 million deal before the start of last season. For context, that was somehow $8 million less than what they agreed to with Shaedon Sharpe.
There was far less risk in the Camara extension for Portland compared to the Sharpe deal. He was already coming off an All-Defensive Second Team selection and immediately played up to the value of that deal last season, before it even kicked in.
When it came to Sharpe, it was more of a bet on the untapped potential rather than the proven value up until that point. Hopefully Sharpe is able to return from his lateral meniscus tear around late February-early March and continue to improve, making that deal look better for Portland. But between the two, it's Camara who's not only already returning value on his deal, but now even massively outplaying it.
Toumani Camara looks like a bargain for the Blazers
Through three games, he's averaging a career-high 16.3 points per game to go along with 1.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.0 steals. He's also doing that on 24.7 minutes and 8.7 field goal attempts per game, both of which are lower than last season.
It's the shooting efficiency that allows Camara to do more with less. He's shooting a blistering 65.4 percent from the field and 59.1 percent from deep.
Last season, Camara's splits showed he was a different player in Blazers wins compared to losses, particularly when it came to shooting. He's been the X-Factor for this team since coming to Portland, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that he's shooting the ball so well when the Blazers are off to a hot 3-0 start to the season.
The shooting is bound to regress with a larger sample size as we get further into the season. But that doesn't mean Camara's offensive production isn't here to stay.
The defensive floor he provided as a versatile two-way wing already returned value on that $82 million extension. But with Camara taking another offensive leap this season, he's proving that his ceiling is higher than anyone expected.
This was a rare low-risk, high-reward extension that continues to look better for Cronin and the Blazers the better Camara gets on the offensive end.
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