The Portland Trail Blazers got the steal of the 2023 NBA Draft when they took Toumani Camara as the No. 52 overall pick.
It has created a quick problem two years into his NBA career, though: What’s he worth?
The Athletic’s John Hollinger suggests that the Blazers and Camara should agree to a four-year, $67 million extension.
“His potential deal would be ‘The Nembhard,’ almost exactly matching what Indiana did with guard Andrew Nembhard a year ago in a similar situation,” Hollinger writes. “For Camara, the deal could wipe out his team option for $2.4 million in 2026-27 and instead start an extension that can go for up to four years and $83 million. ‘Four for 83’ doesn’t sound bad, but the new money here is really ‘three for 81,’ which seems on the rich side for Camara at this point. His defense is unbelievable, but it’s pretty unusual to see a player with his offensive output get paid nearly double the nontaxpayer MLE… If the total is four years and $67 million either way, Portland could make it a flat $16.75 million a season.”
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Hollinger calls that last portion of his analysis “splitting the baby” to come up with a bit of compromise between the sides.
The lanky, athletic, 6-foot-8 lefty averaged 11.3 points 5.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.6 blocks per game this past season. He even knocked down 37.5% of his 3s.
The offense might not be brilliant at this point, but Camara might be worth that money on his defense alone.
If he happened to take another step forward offensively, he’d look like a steal, again.
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