Should the Nets trade for Trail Blazers' Toumani Camara?
Should the Nets trade for Trail Blazers' Toumani Camara?
The Brooklyn Nets have plenty of cap space and draft assets to play with this summer as they are looking to reshape the roster after a 26-56 record in the 2024-25 season. While Brooklyn is expected to add some young talent in the upcoming 2025 NBA Draft, they could also be looking for players to trade for if the price is considered a value.
"I have heard that the Blazers want something like two firsts for Camara," The Athletic's Jovan Buha said of Portland Trail Blazers forward Toumani Camara during an episode of his "Buha's Block" podcast (h/t Bleacher Report's Scott Polacek). Buha was answering a hypothetical trade offer that would send Camara and Deandre Ayton from Portland to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Gabe Vincent, Maxi Kleber, Dalton Knecht and a first-round pick.
Camara is not necessarily considered to be available for trade given what he did during his second season in the NBA after being the 52nd overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. Camara, 25, averaged 11.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game while shooting 45.8% from the field and 37.5% from three-point land in 78 games played for the Trail Blazers.
Not only that, but Camara is coming off a season in which he made All-Defensive Second Team, showing how much he grew as a player on the defensive end as well as the offensive end. What this means for the Nets is that someone like Camara could bring a level of defensive ability that the team hasn't seen since Jason Kidd during his days playing for the franchise in New Jersey.
Brooklyn has four first-round picks to use in the 2025 Draft, but it's possible that they would rather use those picks on players in this class rather than paying a premium for a player that could have already reached his ceiling. It would be easier for the Nets to either take chances on players in the Draft or use their cap space to invest in players like Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga, for example, to avoid having to use their draft picks as well.
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