Suns are missing former player they just gave away now more than ever

The Phoenix Suns have lost four straight games - and as long as Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal are out with calf strains - that looks like a number that could grow bigger. This team is better than last season, but without Durant to close games, the Suns keep losing tight contests.

One bright spot during this run has been the play of the organization's two rookies, Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro. Although too much is being expected of them currently, it is scary to think where this group would be without their impact on both ends of the court. Both players starting in that Magic loss.

But they could really do with a player they just gave away right now.

That would be second-year wing Toumani Camara, who continues to look like he will have a place in this league for years to come. He was thrown into the Jusuf Nurkic and Grayson Allen for Deandre Ayton deal last summer, without having ever appeared for the Suns. There was some Summer League action for Camara with the team, and he impressed defensively in those contests.

So far this season he has started all 14 games the Portland Trail Blazers have played, and at 6-8 they are frisky on most nights. When you compare the motor of Camara - particuarly on the defensive end - to former second overall pick Scoot Henderson for example, it is not hard to see why the Suns would love to have him right now.

Camara has improved statistically across the board, and is up to 31.4 minutes per night. He's not as tall as Dunn - and really he might end up not even being as good a defender - but he's less raw at this point and is more comfortable guarding elite wing scorers of similar stature. Every winning team needs a guy like Camara, and the Trail Blazers are profiting.

Right now the biggest aspect of Camara's game that the Suns are missing - and that Dunn was doing a good job of to start the season - is his 3-point shooting. A sizzling 43.5 percent on 3.3 attempts per night, which is all the more impressive considering he's playing for a rebuilding group. Imagine the damage Camara could do in the Suns' system under Mike Budenholzer.

It gets even worse from the perspective of the Suns, as Camara is joint-third in the entire league in steals per game right now too. An impressive 1.9 per game showing the havoc he can cause in passing lanes for opponents. We have too much statistical data to prove that steals doesn't equate to solid defensive IQ and play - but if you've watched Camara - you'll know he's got that too.

How great would it be to have Camara starting right now, with Dunn backing him up off the bench. Better still - when the Suns are fully healthy - the prospect of Camara and Dunn playing together would have terrified opponents. Fantastic defending with the likelihood of one of them having a good shooting night from deep quite high as well.

We'll never know if Toumani Camara had to be a throw-in to the Ayton for Nurkic/Allen deal, but the Suns could do with him now more than ever. They're over-relying on a pair of rookies as it is, and there's no doubt Camara could have more comfortably stepped into a bigger role while players are out injured, just as he has done for the Portland Trail Blazers.