NBA Rumors: Suns 'Loved' Toumani Camara, 'Hated to See' Him Go in Deandre Ayton Trade

The Phoenix Suns were reportedly well aware of the potential Toumani Camara has shown in the preseason before shipping him off to Portland last month.

"I did hear some concerns from folks with the Suns about the [Deandre] Ayton trade, and it was about the other guy they gave up in the deal," Tim MacMahon of ESPN said on the Hoop Collective podcast (15:20 mark). "They loved Toumani Camara. ... That's the guy they hated to see go."

The Suns traded Camara and Ayton to the Trail Blazers as part of the deal that sent Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks. Phoenix landed Jusuf Nurkic, Grayson Allen, Nassir Little and Keon Johnson in a deal the Suns front office hoped would add some much-needed depth to the roster.

Camara, the 52nd pick in June's draft, had two double-digit scoring performances in four preseason games and flashed some promising 3-and-D potential for the Blazers. The Belgium-born forward began his college career at Georgia before transferring to Dayton, where he earned first-team All-Atlantic 10 honors last season.

Camara will begin the season buried deep in the Blazers depth chart behind Shaedon Sharpe, Matisse Thybulle, Kris Murray and Jerami Grant. It would be a surprise if Camara got much—if any—playing time early in the regular season, and he might wind up being a fixture in the G League before getting his NBA shot.

That said, at age 23, he's older and much farther along in his body development than other draft picks. If the Blazers have an injury or two, Camara could get his time to shine.