Blazers' Toumani Camara Could Make Team History This Season

Portland Trail Blazers combo forward Toumani Camara enjoyed a breakout sophomore NBA season this year, and was a big reason the Trail Blazers were a frisky team with a shot at making the play-in tournament.

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Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian notes that, this spring, Camara could break a 21-year-long drought for Portland, and seems likely to become the first All-Defensive Trail Blazer since the mid-2000s.

"The Blazers promoted him for defensive player of the year. He finished ninth in the voting and has a good chance to become the first Blazers player to be named to an All-Defensive team since Theo Ratliff (second team) in 2004," Fentress writes.

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Fentress is optimistic about Camara's upside with Portland, and suggests there's one clear path for him to get more minutes: a Trail Blazers trade of pricey vet Jerami Grant.

Fentress adds that emerging forward Deni Avdija, whom Fentress clock as the superior "all-around" player to Camara, is another clear long-term building block.

"Camara is still early in his development stage, which should be encouraging that his ceiling remains high," Fentress opines. How the roster fits around him will determine his role. Ideally, the Blazers could trade Grant, get back some young assets or picks, and then clear the path for Camara and Avdija moving forward."

The Trail Blazers' intended backcourt of the future, former lottery picks Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe, have struggled to get off the ground so far as pros. But both have also shown intriguing flashes, and still ostensibly do have major upside.

Still just 24, Camara is already a two-way force in the league.