The Athletic’s John Hollinger has published his picks (subscription required) for the major NBA individual awards, and Toumani Camara of the Portland Trail Blazers is recognized.
While Camara doesn’t make Hollinger’s top three for Defensive Player of the Year, he does earn a spot in Hollinger’s First Team All-Defense. Not bad at all for someone many considered to be a throw-in the trade that sent away Jusuf Nurkic, Keon Johnson and Nassir Little to Phoenix and brought in Deandre Ayton and Camara from the Phoenix Suns.
Hollinger writes of Camara:
Camara was a committed pain-in-the-tuckus with length and tenacity, one who led the league in offensive fouls drawn and was the go-to stopper for a Portland squad that defended at an elite level in the second half of the season.