{"id":157219,"date":"2025-08-30T08:40:28","date_gmt":"2025-08-30T12:40:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=157219"},"modified":"2025-08-30T08:40:28","modified_gmt":"2025-08-30T12:40:28","slug":"the-blazers-best-defender-could-be-the-nbas-top-stopper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/08\/30\/the-blazers-best-defender-could-be-the-nbas-top-stopper\/","title":{"rendered":"The Blazers&#8217; Best Defender Could Be The NBA&#8217;s Top Stopper"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/camarto01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Toumani Camara<\/a> is the Blazers&#8217; best defender, as proven by his All-Defensive Team selection. The Portland wing has the versatility to cover multiple positions, which makes him a potential top stopper in the league.<\/p>\n<h2>The Blazers&#8217; Best Defender Could Be The NBA&#8217;s Top Stopper<\/h2>\n<p>As the Portland Trail Blazers continue to improve, their defense will be the foundation. Chauncey Billups has focused his efforts on <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/07\/19\/chauncey-billups-believes-blazers-are-top-nba-defense\/\" target=\"_self\">building a strong defense<\/a> with a specific standout player.<\/p>\n<p>Toumani Camara has cemented himself as one of the brightest players on the Blazers roster. He was once a second-round pick on the Phoenix Suns roster, but the Blazers saw his potential. They got him as a throw-in in the <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/aytonde01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Deandre Ayton<\/a> trade. It was a fantastic steal for Portland, as he has become the team&#8217;s best defender. His potential is through the roof, which is great for the Trail Blazers&#8217; defense.<\/p>\n<h3>Camara Has The Tools To Be The NBA&#8217;s Top Defender<\/h3>\n<p>At 6&#8217;8&#8243; and 220 pounds, Camara has the optimal tools for the NBA. He has the versatility to defend forwards and centers, but he is also agile for defending guards. That has made him <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/01\/09\/toumani-camara-underrated-nba\/\" target=\"_self\">one of the league&#8217;s most underrated players<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Those physical tools already made him one of the best defenders in the NBA. However, he also has tremendous defensive IQ, which helps him to have a high ceiling. That helps him be a tough on-ball and off-ball defender, which boosts the Blazers&#8217; defensive quality.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"pt\" dir=\"ltr\">Toumani Camara for All-Defense <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/0Rnyyg2Btd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/0Rnyyg2Btd<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Brett Usher (@UsherNBA) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/UsherNBA\/status\/1886155727795847469?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">February 2, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Camara is superb with his positioning, as evidenced by his league-leading 31 charges drawn. Every time he finds himself in the paint, he is finding ways to turn the possession around. He is also smart with his approach to one-on-one defending, as he loves containing his matchup.<\/p>\n<p>During a February matchup against the Indiana Pacers, the Portland wing kept <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/halibty01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tyrese Haliburton<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/boxscore\/_\/gameId\/401705282\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">scoreless<\/a>. It was one of the most impressive defensive performances of the season. The feat was even more remarkable after Halliburton led the Pacers to the NBA Finals months later.<\/p>\n<h3>Versatility Can Make Camara The NBA&#8217;s Best Stopper<\/h3>\n<p>With his physical traits, Camara can be a valid stopper across all five positions. He proved that as a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/04\/12\/portland-toumani-camara-guarding-sga-and-jokic\/\" target=\"_self\">versatile defender<\/a> who guarded both <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jokicni01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nikola Jokic<\/a> and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/gilgesh01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a>. Not many players can do that in the NBA, but Camara continued to prove he is a top defender. He is already one of the best one-on-one stoppers, but he also thrives in any system. For Billups, Camara is the chosen player who can pressure for 94 feet.<\/p>\n<p>Billups trusts Camara enough to match him up on the opponents&#8217; number one option often. Even when Camara only had one season under his belt, Billups already trusted the Belgian&#8217;s versatility.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He\u2019s gifted at it. I want guys that play to their strengths every night, and that\u2019s what he does. He\u2019s to me, one of the best in the league already at it. He\u2019s always going to do what\u2019s best for the team, what\u2019s best for him. So, you can book that,&#8221; Billups <a  href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/a2_RM1WCaoo?si=U2rFIXCiGdkA6uyf&amp;t=349\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">said in an interview before the 2024-25 season<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>Camara Can Go Beyond Being The Blazers&#8217; Best Defender<\/h3>\n<p>After a promising second half of the 2024-25 season, the Blazers look encouraging again. They have the potential to become a top team, especially on defense. Camara is their leader on that end, and they also added <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/holidjr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jrue Holiday<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\u201cIt all starts with Toumani Camara\u2026 It all starts with 33\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Portland has the #1 defense in the last 10 games (104.7 DEF RTG) <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/3HUdundENT\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/3HUdundENT<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; bleep (@bleepinbloop) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bleepinbloop\/status\/1887039224672612476?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">February 5, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/clingdo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Donovan Clingan<\/a> is also a top defender, as he showed his prowess during his rookie year. The defensive talent on the Trail Blazers is on a high level, which is exciting for the fans.<\/p>\n<p>As long as they <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/07\/11\/the-trail-blazers-continue-following-coach-billups-vision\/\" target=\"_self\">remain committed to Billups&#8217; system<\/a>, Portland will be a threat. They might <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/08\/28\/solving-the-significant-problems-with-the-trail-blazers-offense\/\" target=\"_self\">still have some issues with the offense<\/a>, but they are slowly working on that.<\/p>\n<p>If they prove they are a top-tier defense, Camara will become more popular. He is already an underrated defensive star, but the rest of the NBA will learn more about him.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a9 Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Toumani Camara is the Blazers&#8217; best defender, as proven by his All-Defensive Team selection. The Portland wing has the versatility to cover multiple positions, which makes him a potential top stopper in the league. The Blazers&#8217; Best Defender Could Be The NBA&#8217;s Top Stopper As the Portland Trail Blazers continue to improve, their defense will [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5385,"featured_media":157269,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,62,23],"tags":[115,49145,239,49155,2607],"class_list":["post-157219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-nba","category-trailblazers","tag-chauncey-billups","tag-donovan-clingan","tag-jrue-holiday","tag-toumani-camara","tag-tyrese-haliburton"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5385"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157219"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157219\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":157270,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157219\/revisions\/157270"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}