The Portland Trail Blazers are now 2-0 to start the season after a 128-120 road win over the Sacramento Kings on Friday. It was too close for comfort against a rebuilding Kings team, but a win is a win, and Portland will take every one they can get with aspirations of being a 50+ win team this season.
While lofty ambitions, early on the season has shown us it's a realistic goal, given how well this backcourt has fit together. But what can't be overstated in making that fit work is the 3-and-D impact of Toumani Camara, who continues to get better each and every year in Portland.
Toumani Camara is key to making Blazers' new star trio fit
Against the Kings, Camara finished with 19 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 steals in 27 minutes. Most notably, he shot 5-of-10 from three against the Kings, providing much-needed shooting on a night where the Blazers connected on just 14-of-48 (29 percent) from beyond the arc.
He's now 9-of-17 (52.9 percent) to start the season. A small sample size of two games, and negative regression is inevitable. Still, given the progression he's shown since entering the league as a No. 52 overall pick, it's reasonable to expect that improved shooting to continue overall.
That's huge for Portland, who didn't quite address their floor spacing concerns to the extent we would've hoped this offseason. They're putting a lot of faith in both Damian Lillard's return and internal improvement from their young core. So far, the biggest internal shooting leap appears to be Camara.
That's particularly significant given how differently Camara fared last season in Portland's wins compared to losses. He was 40.6 percent from deep in wins, compared to just 33.4 percent in losses. Looking at that trend from last season, it shouldn't come as a surprise that Portland is off to a strong 2-0 start with how well Camara is shooting the ball.
The spotlight so far has been around the newly established star trio of Ja Morant, Damian Lillard, and Deni Avdija. But it's quietly Camara, the X-Factor, that makes this winning formula work in Portland, thanks to his two-way impact to balance out these other ball-dominant stars.
We always said Camara is the elite complementary role player that every contender covets. And now that the Blazers are finally talented enough to make a case as contenders themselves, we're seeing that irreplaceable value Camara brings to this revamped roster.
Portland's next game should be a more challenging matchup, traveling to Los Angeles to take on Luka Doncic and the new-look Lakers on Tuesday. Hopefully Camara can keep up this shooting, as Portland is far more dangerous when he's playing at this level offensively.
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