Do the Blazers Have a Backbone?

Rebuilding in the NBA is a laborious process. At any given time, roughly a third of the league can be considered in the rebuild stages. They’re competing with each other and 20 other teams for revolutionary players who will vault them into the playoffs, if not actual contention.

The Portland Trail Blazers find themselves knee deep in that cycle as we speak in the Summer of 2025. Their big claim to fame is leaping ahead by 15 wins and a couple of starters in the season just past. But how much difference does that really make, ultimately? That’s the subject of today’s Blazer’s Edge Mailbag.

Dave,

I keep hearing you say that the Blazers have players for the future and you always mention Deni [Avdija] and Toumani [Camara]. But how do we know really? I’m not disparaging their skills but this is a league with big two players like LeBron and Luca or Shai and J Will. Deni and Tou aren’t at that level. How do you reconcile this? If Deni and Tou end up as our best and most permanent players, will we ever compete?

Xavier

We’re having a semantics issue here, probably.

Deni Avdija and Toumani Camara are good candidates to become long-term members of the roster. They’re better candidates than anybody else I can name right now, in fact. But that’s not because they are, or ever will be, the team’s best two players. Their versatility and skillset make the difference. Both are in the 6’8 range, play defense actively, and can guard multiple positions. They’re developing three-point shots. Camara is easy to integrate in the offense as a corner shooter. He doesn’t require the ball constantly in order to contribute. Avdija is growing as a playmaker, leaving him as a viable option for secondary ballhandler in any lineup. Both players fill critical roles and check multiple boxes. They’re going to be useful no matter how the team evolves around them. Defense, shooting, and playmaking never go out of style.

Think of roster building like restoring a classic car. Seldom does that happen all at once. I mean, the Lakers are going to bypass the process by purchasing a Bugatti straight off the lot and the Spurs have won several Lamborghinis in the lottery, but the rest of us have to work for a living, right? So what do we do? We’ve got the chassis up on blocks in the shop and we begin replacing/restoring pieces one by one. Today we work on the drive train. This summer we’ll tackle the transmission. Someday we’ll be able to afford the engine, hopefully before the rest starts to rust.

Avdija is that transmission and Camara does a pretty good impression of a drive train. They’re quality parts. The team is going to need them. That’s true regardless of any changes in upholstery or which way we go on the decision about that musical gimmick horn.

If that’s all we do, though, the car ain’t gonna run. You’re perfectly correct that we still need an engine, brakes and tires, a carburetor, and more. Several of those parts are major, too.

If the Blazers draft or trade for a star, we’re likely to get this thing out of the shop and onto the road soon. It’s also possible that they end up selling it for parts a few years from now, having never completed the project.

Either way, those two defensive-minded forwards are going to be the backbone of the restoration. They’re not its culmination, but that’s fine. On Portland’s budget, with the parts available on the open market, they’ve done pretty well getting this far. When the Blazers get their engine—their analogy to LeBron, Luka, or Shai—that player will produce quicker and have a bigger effect because of the parts he’s linked to. Even if it’s not the final step that takes them over the top, getting Avdija and Camara put Portland farther ahead than they were this time last year. For now, that’s something to be proud of.

Thanks for the question! You can always send yours to blazersub@gmail.com and we’ll try to get to as many as possible!