The Suns open the 2026-27 season against Portland, and right there on the other side is Toumani Camara - the player Phoenix let slip away in a move that has looked worse ever since.
Camara was the throw-in piece in the 2023 Deandre Ayton-for-Jusuf Nurkic trade, and the Suns have had plenty of reasons to second-guess that addition to the deal. Now they get the full return on that decision immediately, with a matchup that could tell a very uncomfortable story about where this roster stands.
Miles Bridges is the biggest offseason arrival in Phoenix, and early signs point to him fitting alongside Dillon Brooks. He can score from all three levels, he’s said he expects his best defensive season, and he can put up 20 points on any night.
But Camara has the length and stubbornness to make life miserable for a forward like that. He should spend time on Devin Booker, and he could also end up shadowing Brooks.
If that happens, it becomes a real problem for head coach Jordan Ott on opening night.
There’s also the inside factor. If Camara can make a case that he can keep likely starting center Oso Ighodaro quiet in the paint, that would only add pressure to a situation the Suns already have reason to watch closely. Ighodaro’s extension - even at three years and $29 million - would start to look like more of a risk, and it would put even more weight on Khaman Maluach to take over the starting job soon.
The strange part is that Camara looks like exactly the kind of player this Suns team would want now. Phoenix moved on from him after a solid Summer League showing because it was chasing bigger swings around Kevin Durant and trying to build a championship roster on the fly. But Camara is 26 now, and he fits the profile of a win-now forward in a way this current group would have loved.
He’s drawn some Mikal Bridges comparisons, and he played all 82 games last season. He has boosted Portland’s floor and has become the sort of player the Suns hoped Ryan Dunn would be. And if he were still in Phoenix, the chain reaction would have changed plenty - including the Miles Bridges trade and the 2033 unprotected first-round pick sent out to get him.
So when the Suns walk into opening night, Camara won’t just be a reminder of a talent they gave away. He could also be the defender who shows, right away, how vulnerable this roster might be.
In Other News...
Suns Entering The Season With Doubts They Cant Ignore
The early buzz around Phoenix this preseason has been hard to ignore, and not in the way the Suns would prefer. The Ringers latest NBA power rankings slot them outside the leagues top tier and project a finish near the middle of the Western Conference, a step back from where they stood a year ago. Even with the addition of Miles Bridges, the broader read on the roster is that there are still more questions than answers.
Mark Williams situation only adds to the uncertainty. Phoenix was counting on the starting center to stabilize the middle, but surgery has put that plan on hold and left the team scrambling to cover a major hole before the season fully gets going. For a club trying to prove last year was more than a one-year spike, the doubts are already coming from everywhere. [Read more 🡒]
Suns Bench Battle Is Just Beginning With Opening Night Rotation Set
The Suns have settled on their opening-night 10-man rotation after preseason roster cuts, clearing the board for the start of the regular season and giving the coaching staff a first real look at how the group will fit together. The roster now has a more defined shape, with the starters and main bench pieces set for the early going as Phoenix moves from evaluation mode into games that count.
Even so, the back end of the rotation is hardly locked in for long. Players such as Ryan Dunn and Rasheer Fleming remain in the mix, but the Suns still have some flexibility if performance changes or injuries force a shuffle, and there are a few more names waiting just outside the first group. For a team trying to balance development and results, the real competition may be less about making the roster and more about holding onto a nightly role once the season starts. [Read more 🡒]
Suns Open With One Big Question About Their New Look Around Booker
The first look at Phoenixs reshaped roster comes in Portland, where the Suns and Trail Blazers meet for the first time since their Play-In Tournament clash in April. This is the kind of early-season test that can tell you a lot about what a team thinks it fixed over the summer, and the Suns spent the offseason trying to add more size and sturdiness around Devin Booker.
Phoenixs changes were built around that idea, from swapping out Grayson Allen and Royce ONeale to bringing in Miles Bridges and moving up in the draft for Koa Peat. Even so, the most immediate question is less about the shiny new pieces than the middle of the floor, where the Suns are still sorting out who is going to handle the starting center role while Mark Williams is sidelined. [Read more 🡒]