Toumani Camara Has Evolved From Offensive 'Liability' to 3-Point Threat

📍LOS ANGELES — When Micah Nori was interviewing for the Trail Blazers’ head coaching job this summer, one of the first things he did was a deep-dive film review of every player’s shot selection, to develop a plan to get each of them more of the kind of looks they’re good at and cut out the ones they aren’t.

Toumani Camara has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of Nori’s new offense, and the abundance of playmakers the Blazers suddenly have with the return of Damian Lillard and the arrival of Ja Morant to go along with Deni Avdija, Jrue Holiday and Scoot Henderson.

The pull-up threes Camara was often forced to take last season, when Portland’s backcourt rotation was decimated by injuries, are gone now, replaced by wide-open spot-up looks that he’s knocking down.

The Blazers’ second-half comeback against the Kings on Friday wouldn’t have happened without the four three-pointers Camara hit in the second half. The same goes for Tuesday’s win over the Lakers, where he went 4-of-5 from beyond the arc with three of his makes coming in the second half.

When he’s talked about after a win as changing the game, it’s usually on the defensive end. Being viewed as an offensive weapon is a new thing for him.

Camara has come a long way from his rookie year, when he described himself as a “liability” at that end of the floor.