The Phoenix Suns may have surpassed expectations by making the play-in tournament as the seventh seed, but they are still being made to pay for past mistakes.
Toumani Camara’s availability exactly what Suns have been lacking
The franchise’s former draft pick in Camara being one of only a small handful of players this season to appear in all 82 regular season games.
When you consider the problems Phoenix has had with injuries (which has led to guys like Grayson Allen then falling out of form), the 25-year-old Belgian would have been perfect in The Valley this season.
He is older than the average player who has completed three NBA seasons, and that was the reason why the Suns had no problem moving him on when they were trying to contend with Kevin Durant.
But the fact he has blossomed into a defensive stud, and one far more reliable than another draft pick of theirs in Ryan Dunn, continues to sting.
At a time when everybody from Devin Booker to Mark Williams missed time during the year, the quiet consistency of Camara would have been invaluable. Instead it is the Portland Trail Blazers who have profited in a big way.
Also worth noting is that another former Suns player in Mikal Bridges also managed to play every game in the 2025-26 regular season.
The iron-man qualities of Bridges have been known for a long time, but that doesn’t make it any easier for Phoenix to live without. If anything Camara was the second coming of Bridges.
Making this even worse is the fact that both Bridges and Camara finished the season sitting between 67th-80th in minutes played per game. Contrast that with Devin Booker, who sits in the top 10 despite some injury setbacks of his own.
Obviously Booker is asked to do a lot more each night than either Bridges or Camara, but having their consistent presence (particularly on the defensive end) alongside him each night surely would have made this team even better.
Fans long ago made their peace with getting rid of Bridges, but Camara’s exit before ever playing an actual game for the organization was needless. It will continue to hang over this front office until they can give the fans a reason to forget about their mistake.
Making the playoffs at the expense of Camara and the Trail Blazers would be the perfect way to make that happen.