Portland Trail Blazers forward Toumani Camara was an afterthought in the Damian Lillard three-team blockbuster last October.

However, he has now emerged into one of the more important pieces of the deal.

Bleacher Report writer Zach Buckley named Camara as one of 10 “hidden gems” in the NBA.

Portland’s first season of its post-Damian Lillard era was every bit as loss-filled and development-focused as one would expect.

In a way, that was unfortunate, since it sort of masked over how much Toumani Camara can contribute to winning right now. The Blazers were a mess in mostly all facets, but they were least messy when the defense-first swingman was on the floor. He had the biggest swing in net differential among their rotation regulars, as they fared 7.6 points better per 100 possessions with him than without.

That’s a big number for anyone, let alone a rookie with clear offensive limitations. Creation isn’t a part of his arsenal, and the same holds true for perimeter shooting (58 threes in 70 games, 33.7 percent connection rate). However, his defense is among the stingiest around (96th percentile in defensive estimated plus/minus), and his offense isn’t devoid of value, as he’s an active rebounder and right-place, right-time cutter.

Camara, 24, averaged 7.5 points per game last season in his rookie year for the Blazers, but his defense didn’t look like a rookie.

Camara’s defense is part of the building foundation the Blazers have on that end of the floor, which is why he has become one of the most important players on the team.