Toumani Camara has entered the DPOY chat
Data reveals that the Blazers forward gets stops like no one else.
“In my personal opinion, when I look around the league, and I’m guarded by all the top perimeter defenders, I think he’s right there at the top. His competitiveness, he has the size and length and energy to do it. He takes pride in it. He’s constantly going. He’s not going to go away. He’s there the whole time.”
-Damian Lillard on Toumani Camara
“Toumani Camara. He is an elite defender. And I don’t think people really know and I don’t think people have paid attention how good he is …”
-Trey Murphy III on the NBA’s most underrated players (via KOC Show)
“The ball would go through the net, and he would try to deny me and pick me up … the whole game. Someone who is that size, and who can pick up fullcourt, and is that relentless? Kudos to him, man.”
-Tyrese Maxey on Camara to The Athletic
“He’s a banshee.”
On Tuesday, Toumani Camara was named the Western Conference Defensive Player of the Month. If you’re not familiar with Camara’s game, let me introduce you with the following video:
From a standstill. Guarding Franz Wagner in the corner. Shifting over to block a hammer from Paolo Banchero going downhill.
Who does that?
That’s Toumani Camara.
Or as Thinking Basketball’s Ben Taylor dubbed him, “Baby Pippen.”
Banchero represents one of the many stars in today’s NBA that has been put in Camara’s torture chamber. Actually, not “many stars.” Let me rephrase that. All of the stars.
Because when you look at the NBA’s tracking data, you find that the Blazers have faced 19 2024-25 All-Stars this season and Camara has guarded every single one of them for multiple possessions, often as the primary defender (Donovan Mitchell would be No. 20 on Camara’s list but the Cavs star decided to rest Sunday).
The versatility from Camara is unrivaled. In fact, Camara is the only player in the league, according to the NBA’s player-tracking cameras, who has defended both MVP frontrunners — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokić — for at least 50 possessions each. Think about that.
As the Blazers analytics insider on their game broadcasts, I have the privilege of watching, tracking and thinking about all the amazing things that Camara does on the basketball court. If you don’t know his name, I get it. The Blazers have only been on national TV once this season.
I also won’t begrudge you if you think my Blazers gig makes me a biased observer, but this seat has also given me unique perspective. I’d be willing to bet that I’ve studied and watched more Camara tape than just about any award voter.
With those cards on the table, it needs to be said:
Toumani Camara should be in the Defensive Player of the Year conversation.
The box score’s blind spot
Earlier this season, the 6-foot-8 Camara ran back on defense with his 7-foot-0.5-inch wingspan and stopped just so he could yell in the ear of his former teammate at the University of Georgia and NBA star Anthony Edwards.
“I DO THIS,” Camara shouted. “I DO THIS. YOU KNOW THAT, SINCE COLLEGE.”
What Camara does, obsessively, is gets stops. Of any kind. Defensive stops are his oxygen. It’s the only explanation I can come up with. Whether it’s a high-energy block above the rim or picking up guys full court with physicality, he’s driving opponents mad. So much so that they often blow a fuse and commit an offensive foul. He is an irritant.
Remember what Tyrese Maxey said at the top? Watch LeBron James here. It’s a play from last month when a frustrated LeBron, annoyed by Camara’s full-court resistance, pushed the Blazers wing with both arms and was called for the offensive foul:
And another one against Nikola Jokić before the All-Star break, with Camara hitting a 3 and then putting his body on the line against the three-time MVP:
And another stop on Giannis Antetokounmpo, this time drawing on offensive foul on the Greek Freak’s push-off:
Camara is elite when it comes to getting these kinds of stops.
Turnover after turnover after turnover, these superstars have committed an often grave mistake of attempting to go at the second-year Blazer defensive stalwart with the result of them coughing up the ball to the Blazers. All told, Camara has accumulated a league-high 67 of these forced turnovers. Which is especially notable because no other player has tabulated more than 50.
But here’s the crazy thing: Camara wasn’t credited with a steal on any of those 68 forced turnovers.
That’s right: the box score doesn’t attribute any steals for Camara on these particular plays despite him directly ending the offensive possession.
It’s a strange quirk of stat-keeping. Camara leads the league in both charges drawn (24) and non-charge offensive fouls drawn (43), two separate categories of defensive statistics detailed in the play-by-play, which are not tracked in the box score.
Drawing an offensive foul (say, trucked by a moving screen) or a drawing a charge (say, bulldozed by an out-of-control driver) is not considered a steal even though it forces a turnover and can be directly attributable to a single defender. Because it’s not a block either, these forced turnovers have no home in the box score, and therefore, no home in the national conversation.
That needs to change. It’s time for the box score to add a new comprehensive category: defensive stops. Then the world could see Camara’s superpower — and other players like him — more clearly.
Introducing: Defensive stops
The box score is not super helpful when it comes to representing the defensive side of the game. On offense, we have all sorts of measuring sticks like field goal attempts, free-throw attempts, assists, turnovers etc. But for elite defenders, we have just steals and blocks (and to a lesser extent, defensive rebounds).
Camara isn’t particularly elite defensively when we look through the lens of the box score. He ranks 9th in steals and 63rd in blocks. Good, but it doesn’t exactly scream Defensive Player of the Year.
But when we look at defensive stops? All of the forced turnovers where the defender makes a play that directly ends a possession?
Camara ranks second. In stops. In the entire league.
That’s right. When we rank players who register the most defensive plays that directly end an opponent possession (steals, recovered blocks, offensive fouls drawn and charges drawn), only Dyson Daniels ranks higher in the defensive stops category.
Dyson Daniels has been a monster this season, and rightfully has garnered lots of recognition for his outrageous defensive playmaking. Many think he’s the DPOY. Daniels ranks second in the DPOY race, per the sportsbooks. Camara’s name, somehow, is nowhere to be found, as of Tuesday afternoon. The 13 names in the DPOY race (and Alex Sarr ?!?!??!):
Camara’s name isn’t listed — I have a sneaky suspicion — because defensive stops aren’t in the box score. Luckily for us, pbpstats.com tracks offensive fouls drawn and charges. nbarapm tracks Stop% for every player (among a giant pile of fun things), and Camara shines there. So it’s out there, even if it isn’t officially on the paper that coaches hold in their hand at press conferences.
Look, it’s going to be hard for a perimeter player like Camara or Daniels to win DPOY. The rim is still the most important real estate in the game. Camara isn’t an elite shotblocker, but he takes a ton of charges there and blocks can be misleading when it comes to player value. Blocks alone should not be considered stops unless the defensive team recovers the swatted shot. Luckily, nbarapm.com’s Stop% makes this distinction and guys like Jaren Jackson Jr., who gives back more than 46 percent of his blocks back to the offense, get properly credited with “true” stops.
I should add that charges and offensive fouls drawn have added value in ways that steals and blocks do not. Drawing an offensive foul pushes an opponent closer to disqualification. Not in theory, in reality. On Sunday, Mobley fouled out thanks in part to Camara drawing a charge on him in the third quarter. Earlier this season, Domantas Sabonis also fouled out against the Blazers after Camara drew two offensive fouls on him.
Don’t get it twisted: there’s more to defense than just purely looking at defensive playmaking. It’s clear that Defensive Player of the Year is driven largely by team defensive rating, and Camara’s case dims a bit there. The Blazers on the season are ranked 21st in defensive rating, just behind Daniels’ Atlanta Hawks at No. 20. Camara’s case seems to be hurt by that slotting, but Daniels curiously doesn’t.
Voters have to consider the entirety of the season. But context matters and the Blazers became an elite defense on January 19 when Chauncey Billups made the bold decision to start bringing 21-year-old Shaedon Sharpe off the bench, in part, to tighten up the defense. Since then, the Camara-led Blazers have terrorized opponents defensively, ranking No. 2 across the entire league in points allowed per 100 possessions.
Since Christmas, the Blazers have been a Top 10 defense.
Since Christmas, Camara has led the entire NBA in defensive stops.
Beyond the stops
Toumania is brewing a long time in Portland. Ever since the Phoenix Suns traded Camara as part of the Deandre Ayton deal, Camara has made sure to make opponents remember him. He put himself on the map last season when, as a rookie, he snapped Stephen Curry’s consecutive 3-pointer streak at 268 straight games. Curry shot 0-for-8 in the game. Camara was his primary defender.
In early February, Tyrese Haliburton was held scoreless in 25 minutes against the Blazers. Camara blanketed him all night. In fact, in that game, Camara forced seven defensive stops — a block, a steal and five offensive fouls drawn.
Later in the month, LaMelo Ball shot 1-of-10 against the Blazers, with zero points coming against his primary defender, Camara. Ball basically gave up. In that game, Camara tied the Blazers’ franchise record with a +45. The Blazers won by 53.
On Sunday, Camara guarded Darius Garland because Mitchell took the day off. In that game, with Camara hounding Garland, the Cavs guard delivered one of his worst games of his All-Star season, shooting 4-of-16. (Garland shot just 1-of-4 in the 50 possessions guarded Camara). The Cavs were forced to get their points elsewhere.
There’s no one like Camara. He has done things this season that no one else has. He has the respect of his coaches and his peers on the floor. Among the names that Camara has guarded for at least 20 possessions this season: Nikola Jokić, Kevin Durant, Anthony Edwards, Luka Dončić, Devin Booker, Shae Gilgeous-Alexander, Damian Lillard, Giannis Antetokounmpo, LaMelo Ball, Darius Garland, Trae Young, Alperen Sengun, Stephen Curry, Rudy Gobert, Cade Cunningham and yes, Victor Wembanyama.
The only 2024-25 All-Stars that Camara hasn’t defended are Mitchell (rested in Sunday’s game), Karl-Anthony Towns, Jalen Brunson, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. The Knicks’ stars meet the Blazers for the first time next week. Boston’s stars will get their Toumani test on Wednesday. If they play at all.
I’m glad Camara was recognized by the league for February Defensive Player of the Month. It’s fitting that he won the award alongside his East counterpart Evan Mobley. Because:
With Wembanyama out for the season and ineligible for Defensive Player of the Year, reasonable minds can disagree on who should win the award.
But what is completely unreasonable is leaving Camara completely out of the conversation.
I would argue that the rim is not the most important real estate. Given the amount of 3pt shooting you need long, athletic guards that can defend the 3. SGA, Jalen Williams, Daniels to name a few. Individual Defensive Rating, Defensive Win Shares, Defensive Box Plus/Minus and yes, what is your teams overall defense efficiency are all important categories that need to be looked at by voters. Not just rim protection and blocks.
Great article, Tom! In Tou we trust!