As the rebuild continues to progress, the Blazers’ stars are steadily improving. A promising player on the team is defensive ace Toumani Camara. He has become a Chauncey Billups favorite due to his fantastic defense. The Portland Trail Blazers have become overlooked in recent seasons due to not having a transcendent star like Damian Lillard. Now that two seasons have passed without Lillard, Portland has looked better than most people realize.

They have a burgeoning roster spearheaded by coach Billups. Among that roster is Toumani Camara, a proven premier defender. He was a crucial part of the Blazers being the third-best defensive team since January 19, 2025. He just earned an All-Defensive Second Team nod, but people are unfamiliar with his overall game. That makes him one of the league’s most underrated players.

Toumani Camara Deserves to be One of the Blazers’ Stars
Mar 21, 2025; Portland, Oregon, USA; Portland Trail Blazers forward Toumani Camara (33) dunks the basketball during the second half against the Denver Nuggets at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images
Camara is a Star in the Making for Portland

While he might never reach the heights of Kawhi Leonard in terms of his offensive impact, Camara is tremendous. Portland could always rely on him to be a lockdown defender. He welcomes the challenge of playing against the opponent team’s best player every game.

“I was like ‘I need to make a bigger impact. I need to show them that I’m here.’ They need to see me. So, the biggest thing for me was that I’ll guard full-court all the time. That’s all I did, and Chauncey Billups told me that’s how he learned to appreciate me,” Camara said on X&O’s.

Camara is versatile enough to defend guards like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and is big enough to match up against Nikola Jokic. That is the most significant part of his game, but he is also developing on offense.

2nd year wing Toumani Camara is an absolute menace defensively…

A+ effort, elite wing size, and just watch how he moves. Explosive but under control. Agile AND strong. Really cool player. Winner. pic.twitter.com/jcteJMUWIP

— NBA University (@NBA_University) November 18, 2024

 

 

He scored 11.3 points per game in the 2024-25 season, while shooting 37.5% from long distance. The three-point percentage is up 3.8% from the previous year, and he looks primed to keep improving as a shooter. With playmakers like Scoot Henderson and Deni Avdija as his teammates, he can keep taking threes. That could make him one of the team’s stars because he is also growing as a scorer in the paint.

Billups Is Empowering Camara To Keep Growing

Since the 2023 training camp in Santa Barbara before the 2023-24 season, Camara has been a Billups favorite. He is the prototypical Billups player because he is a hard-nosed defender who rarely complains. The Blazers’ coach was the Finals MVP for the Detroit Pistons in 2004, a team known for their lockdown defense. That is his brand of basketball, even in his head coaching career. That is why Camara fits in so well because he deserves to be one of the Blazers’ stars.

With potential franchise center Donovan Clingan also looking like a top-tier defender, Portland has building blocks. Camara might not be the traditional star who scores 20+ points, but he does fit the culture. The Trail Blazers are developing into a terrifying team. Camara is still a hidden gem at the moment, but with Portland’s growth, he could be a top player. As long as Portland delivers on its development of Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe, and Clingan, they are in a good spot.

 

Featured image: © Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images