Toumani Camara is making it impossible for the Phoenix Suns to look away.
The Portland Trail Blazers are off to a 3-0 start, and the loudest early statement in that run was a 124-83 rout of the Suns. In a twisted bit of irony, Portland has looked like the Suns of last season - all buzz, energy and defensive urgency - while Phoenix has stumbled into the league’s worst defensive rating over the same stretch.
Camara is a big reason why. He’s averaging a career-high 16.3 points per game, and he’s doing it while logging 24.7 minutes a night, nearly 10 fewer than last season.
The reduced run hasn’t slowed him down. If anything, it’s sharpened what he brings every night.
What stands out most is the way he’s impacting the game without forcing it. Camara is described here as one of the best point-of-attack defenders in the league, and he’s doing that while keeping the offensive side efficient and clean. That combination has helped give Portland a level of defensive bite that was a calling card for Phoenix a year ago.
That’s what made the Suns’ decision to give up on him before he ever played a game for them so costly. It’s the kind of mistake that keeps circling back, especially when Camara keeps flashing the exact traits Phoenix needs. The front office now has to find someone who can do that job, and at the moment the best in-house option is Ryan Dunn, who doesn’t offer the same confidence.
The comparison gets even sharper because Portland’s backcourt pairing of Damian Lillard and Ja Morant should, at least on paper, raise the same concerns that come with Devin Booker and Jalen Green in Phoenix: too much offense, not enough high-level defense. Camara helps cover that gap in a way Miles Bridges never can because he accepts a smaller offensive role and takes what the game gives him.
For now, Camara and the Trail Blazers are the story, and they’re already making the Suns pay for the choice to move on from him.
In Other News...
Suns Offensive Problem Is Turning Into A Bigger Roster Concern
Chris Haynes report put a sharper edge on something the Suns have been trying to manage all season: the offense has had to run through a committee, with multiple players sharing playmaking duties instead of one steady hand organizing possessions. That setup has come with drawbacks, including lower assist numbers and a more difficult time generating clean offense, and it has apparently started to wear on some players inside the locker room.
Phoenix is now weighing what it can do from within, while also leaving open the possibility of chasing a point guard if the right option emerges. For a team trying to stabilize its attack, the issue is no longer just about scheme or rhythm, it is becoming a roster question, and one the Suns have not yet publicly answered. [Read more 🡒]
Suns Still Havent Solved The Devin Booker Problem They Created
The Suns are still living with the ripple effects of the 2023 trade that sent Mikal Bridges to the Knicks for Kevin Durant, a move that changed the shape of the roster but did not necessarily make things easier around Devin Booker. Phoenix made the swing for star power, but the broader question has lingered ever since: whether Bridges would have been a cleaner fit next to Booker, and whether the Suns gave up a player whose two-way value would have helped balance the roster in a different way.
Bridges remains under contract with New York, while Phoenix keeps searching for the right formula to maximize Booker and re-open a real title window. That is the challenge now for a team that has already spent significant capital on trying to speed up contention, only to find itself still sorting through the fallout of its biggest decisions. The Suns do not just need talent. They need the kind of structure that makes Booker easier to build around, and that part has yet to be solved. [Read more 🡒]
Suns Trade Talk Is Heating Up Around A Booker Backcourt Need
The early season has only sharpened the same question around Phoenix: who is going to handle the true point guard duties next to Devin Booker? The Suns have plenty of reason to keep searching for a better fit in the backcourt, and the conversation around the roster has quickly turned from lineup tinkering to possible trade ideas that could better balance the offense and take pressure off Booker.
One name that keeps surfacing in the speculation is Dejounte Murray, with Jalen Green also part of the broader chatter in a possible deal framework that could help multiple teams sort out their backcourts. Nothing has been reported officially, but the idea reflects where Phoenix finds itself now, trying to address a clear need before the season gets any more difficult to manage. [Read more 🡒]