The Athletic’s John Hollinger has published his picks (subscription required) for the major NBA individual awards, and Toumani Camara of the Portland Trail Blazers is recognized.

While Camara doesn’t make Hollinger’s top three for Defensive Player of the Year, he does earn a spot in Hollinger’s First Team All-Defense. Not bad at all for someone many considered to be a throw-in the trade that sent away Jusuf Nurkic, Keon Johnson and Nassir Little to Phoenix and brought in Deandre Ayton and Camara from the Phoenix Suns.

Hollinger writes of Camara:

Camara was a committed pain-in-the-tuckus with length and tenacity, one who led the league in offensive fouls drawn and was the go-to stopper for a Portland squad that defended at an elite level in the second half of the season.

While Hollinger’s praise is sincere, it should be noted that he followed the NBA’s rules for eligibility. That means Camara wasn’t competing against the likes of Victor Wembanyama, Kris Dunn, Ausar Thompson, Alex Caruso, Anthony Davis, and Chet Holmgren. If they had been eligible, any of these players might have been a real threat to make the first team at Camara’s expense. As Hollinger notes, the competition in 2025-26 will be incredibly stiff if these ineligible players are eligible next season.

Hollinger also gives his picks for MVP, All-NBA, Rookie of the Year, Most Improved, All Rookie, Coach of the Year, and Executive of the Year. Sadly, no other Blazers player, coach, or executive makes Hollinger’s cut.

Perhaps the most interesting comments in the article (aside from those about Camara) are on the incredibly close MVP race. Hollinger has to go to extremely fine margins to pick a winner between Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander:

So, how to differentiate? One thing stands out to me: The Thunder’s team defensive performance. Relative to the league, Oklahoma City had one of the best defenses in NBA history, allowing more than seven points below the league average per 100 defensive efficiency entering Sunday.

Jokić isn’t the liability some imagine him to be, but he’s hardly dominant at this end —limited as a rim protector and uncomfortable in pure switch or drop schemes. It’s hard to imagine him being part of an all-time great defense. Gilgeous-Alexander might be one of the Thunder’s weaker links in most lineups, but he is pretty clearly a contributing part of an elite defense.

When you are breaking down Nikola Jokic’s defensive prowess against particular offensive schemes as the difference maker, you know the race is incredibly tight.

Hollinger doesn’t have an official say in who will ultimate be chosen by the NBA, but we won’t have to wait too long find out who will earn these honors: the NBA generally announces awards piecemeal over the course of a week or so starting in early May.