Did Suns Make Mistake by Trading Toumani Camara?

It won't be clear as to who won the multi-team trade between the Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers and Milwaukee Bucks until further down the road, though one unexpected piece is making bigger waves than anticipated.

It's not often a second-round pick such as Toumani Camara is considered a valuable trade chip. In fairness, he was looked at as an afterthought when the dust settled thanks to major players such as Deandre Ayton, Jusuf Nurkic and Damian Lillard headlining the deal.

The Suns were fairly high on Camara after he played in the Summer League.

“Toumani (Camara) might be more ready to play than we thought. Once that jumper comes around, we feel like we’ve got a steal on our hands," one Suns staffer told Spotrac.com back in the summer.

Fast-forward to present day, where the Suns moved Camara to Portland alongside Ayton. Camara - landing on a young Trail Blazers squad that also features top pick Scoot Henderson - has managed to impress in the short amount of preseason action he's seen.

From USA Today's Bryan Kalbrosky:

"The former Dayton standout is once again playing well now that he is on the Trail Blazers. Camara is averaging 1.53 points per possession, per Synergy, which ranks in the 97th percentile so far during the preseason.

"He is impressive in the open court, connecting on all three of his 3-pointers in transition. The forward is 5-for-8 (62.5 percent) on his jumpers and 3-for-4 (75.0 percent) at the rim, including two dunks."

Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups gave Camara a glowing review:

"There are so many things to love about (him),” Billups said. “The thing that stands out to me is his toughness. He don’t quit on no play. It could be a breakaway layup (or) somebody coming downhill at him at a disadvantage, he don’t care. He is fearless and is a competitor. That’s what I love most about him. … When you put him out there, he is going to play his butt off.”

Though it's only preseason play, Camara is certainly making his impact felt.

Hard to imagine Toumani Camara not being part of the regular rotation this season
— Brett Usher (@UsherNBA) October 15, 2023

Did the Suns make a mistake dealing Camara to Portland?

In the short scheme - absolutely not. The Suns needed to push their chips to the middle of the table and certainly made the right moves to do so with Bradley Beal and other additions to the roster.

Phoenix isn't worried about the long-term right now, nor should they. So long as a championship parade is able to be planned relatively soon, the team will deem whatever sacrifices made worth it.

Long-term? We'll see. Camara certainly wasn't going to make an impact anytime soon with everybody in front of him, and developing talent certainly isn't on the forefront of Phoenix's mind.

If he does thrive in Portland, perhaps the change of scenery benefited both parties - yet it's tough to picture Camara playing that well.