The Portland Trail Blazers' 127-110 home loss to the Phoenix Suns exposed the concerning Toumani Camara problem they are dealing with this season. Portland was shorthanded entering the contest without playmakers and shot creators such as Jerami Grant (illness), Jrue Holiday (calf soreness), and Scoot Henderson (hamstring tear), among others. Portland desperately needed others to step up in their absence, yet Camara finished with just six points, three assists, two rebounds, and four turnovers in 32 minutes. He shot 2-of-10 from the field and 2-of-9 from beyond the arc, highlighting the shooting regression he's had in Year 3.
This season, Camara is averaging 12.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.1 steals on 41/31/71 shooting splits. That's the most points of his career, but it comes at the expense of Portland's offense, as it's also the worst shooting efficiency of his career. He's shooting 35.6% from beyond the arc entering his third season, but that could be attributed to a fluky sophomore campaign in which he connected on 37.5% of his three-point attempts.
If that is indeed the case, it came at a horrible time for Portland, as they recently agreed to a four-year, $82 million extension before the season.
Blazers may have invested in Toumani Camara at his peak
The Blazers saw enough out of Camara as a 3-and-D wing to feel comfortable investing in him long term, despite the fact that he was a late second-round draft pick. Unfortunately, those flaws as a prospect are starting to show after the extension. He's not only failing to show progress, but he's also taking a step back in his development.
Camara isn't spacing the floor effectively, and he's surprisingly not even the same level of defender. He received All-Defensive Second Team honors just last season, yet now has the fourth-worst defensive rating (120.8) on their roster in 2025-26.
That's the risk you take on when you agree to these rookie-scale extensions, particularly with a prospect like Camara, who wasn't highly regarded out of college. Two reasons he was passed on in the draft were his lack of ceiling given his age and collegiate experience, and his potential to be an offensive liability as someone who shrinks the floor, considering he shot just 30.7% from deep throughout his collegiate career.
The Blazers front office was understandably excited about Camara's potential after a promising sophomore breakout campaign. The idea behind investing in him stemmed from his potential to build on his 3-and-D foundation, becoming more of a playmaker and shot creator -- especially given that he played the power forward/center positions in college and was still adjusting to life as a wing in the NBA.
Last season, Blazers broadcaster Lamar Hurd even named Jimmy Butler as a career trajectory for Camara to strive for. But in retrospect, we may have placed too high expectations on Camara. The goal all along should have been to maintain the level of play he had last year. After all, an All-Defensive wing who shoots 37.5% from deep is a rare and incredibly valuable player archetype in today's NBA.
Now the question shouldn't be whether Camara can build off last season. It's whether he can get back to being the player he was before the Blazers invested so heavily in him. He was once considered an obvious building block for Portland, but this concerning start to the season has to make them second-guess that -- and the extension they gave him before the season.