ESPN’s latest NBA rankings made room for five Trail Blazers in the top 100, but one name that should have been there never showed up: Toumani Camara.
Portland’s group on the list came in with Donovan Clingan at 95th, Jrue Holiday at 82, Ja Morant at 77, Damian Lillard at 69 and Deni Avdija at 27. That gives the Blazers a roster with real depth, enough talent to imagine a starting five built entirely from top-100 players. It also says plenty about how much more balanced this team looks than the Portland teams Damian Lillard had around him in his first stint, and how much better positioned this roster is for a postseason push.
But Camara is the piece that ties a lot of that together, and leaving him out feels like a miss.
He’s not the flashiest player in the bunch, and he doesn’t carry the same ceiling as Lillard or Morant. What he does bring is the kind of value that wins coaches over and makes lineups work: defensive versatility, reliability and the ability to scale up or down depending on what Portland needs. There’s a real argument that he belongs among the top 100 simply because of how steady he is.
Camara spent last season doing the dirty work on defense, often taking on the opposing team’s best scorer. He also set the NBA single-season record for most offensive fouls drawn, with 106.
And while that kind of impact usually gets buried under bigger names and bigger stat lines, the availability matters too. He played 78 games in 2024-25 and then all 82 this past season.
That kind of durability stands out on a roster where several of the top names come with questions. Clingan has the size and two-way upside, but there are concerns about how he holds up in certain matchups as a drop-coverage big, especially against stretch fives.
Holiday is 36 and has an injury history. Morant’s fit is complicated.
Lillard is still working back toward form. Avdija is the one Blazer in that group without the same kind of obvious baggage.
Camara, though, is the glue.
He shot 37 percent from deep over the past two seasons, earned an All-Defensive Second Team nod, and gives Portland the kind of 3-and-D wing every contender wants somewhere in the rotation. He can cover multiple positions, clean up mistakes and cover for teammates when the roster asks him to do more than one job. That versatility is a big reason there’s a case for him as Portland’s second-best player.
In a league that rewards wings who can defend, hit open shots and stay on the floor, Camara checks a lot of boxes. ESPN’s rankings caught most of the Blazers’ core. They missed the guy who helps hold the whole thing together.
In Other News...
Blazers Playoff Hopes Come Down To One Uncomfortable Reality
The Trail Blazers did enough over the regular season and Play-In Tournament to reach the 2025-26 NBA Playoffs as the Wests No. 7 seed, a step forward that should have signaled real staying power. Instead, the conversation around Portland has quickly shifted to whether that breakthrough is built to last, especially with questions lingering about ownership direction, coaching stability and how well the roster actually fits together.
One anonymous NBA scout put the unease in blunt terms, framing Portland as a team he expects to slide back out of the playoff mix. At the center of it all is an awkward balancing act: whether Ja Morant and Damian Lillard can stay healthy and find a way to coexist while Deni Avdija remains the clubs primary offensive engine. If that combination does not settle quickly, the Blazers could discover how thin the margin is between a feel-good spring and a much harsher reality. [Read more 🡒]
Hawks Move On From Keon Johnson And Raise An Immediate Question
Keon Johnsons latest stop ended almost as quickly as it began, with Atlanta waiving the former first-round pick shortly after bringing him in on an Exhibit 10 deal. The move leaves Johnson back on the market, and it also puts a few teams on alert as the veteran-free-agency shuffle keeps rolling late in the calendar.
Among the possibilities being floated are Denver, Chicago and Portland, with the Trail Blazers included because of their guard situation and the broader way their roster has been taking shape. Portland also recently moved on from guards Mark Sears and Barry Dunning, which only adds to the sense that there could be room for another look, even if nothing has been decided yet. [Read more 🡒]
Jeremy Sochan Puts Blazers Camp Battle In Sharp Focus
Jeremy Sochan arrives in Portland with the kind of profile that usually gets a closer look in training camp: young enough to develop, experienced enough to matter, and versatile enough to fit a roster that can always use another defender. The 23-year-old forward is entering his fifth NBA season after signing a one-year, non-guaranteed contract, and the Trail Blazers are clearly viewing him as a possible answer behind the main rotation rather than a finished product.
What makes Sochan intriguing is the same thing that makes his path uneasy. Portland likes the defensive flexibility he can bring by guarding multiple positions, but the offensive side of his game remains a limitation, which puts real weight on how he looks in camp and how he fits into the depth picture. For a team sorting through its backup forward options, his presence adds another layer to a competition that could come down to who can do the most without needing the ball. [Read more 🡒]