A waste of talent! The top 3D averaged 11+5+2 per game is regarded as a big deal, and the Suns are losing money!

Not long ago, the NBA officially released the selection of the best defensive team this year, among which an unexpected player appeared in the second team of the best defensive team, who is the Trail Blazers' sophomore rookie Tumani Kamala. Although he is 25 years old this year, Kamala has performed very well this season, and he was selected for the defensive lineup this time, which is the first time that a player has been selected for the best defensive lineup in the past 21 years, which further proves his difficulty. Looking at Kamala's current performance, I don't know if the Suns feel regretful. After all, when he first entered the NBA, he was immediately given the Trail Blazers as a trade lead by the team. Let’s take a look at the basketball story about Kamala.

1. The road to basketball was difficult and I entered the NBA at the age of 23.

Kamala's basketball journey is quite difficult. His parents are immigrants from Mali and have carried out some business in Brussels, Belgium to make a living. Kamala, who was born in this ordinary family, has been interested in basketball since childhood. In fact, Kamala has a very outstanding talent and soon stood out from his peers. Local coaches all praised him unanimously, believing that as long as he practices well, he will definitely have a chance to compete in the NBA in the future. Kamala's parents also support him very much. Considering that the basketball atmosphere in Belgium is not particularly good, the things that can be handed over to Kamala are relatively limited, so in order to improve, when Kamala was 15 years old, they resolutely decided to move their family to the United States in order to allow Kamala to get better training and development. It can be said that Kamala is very lucky to have such support and understanding of his parents. In order to repay his parents, he also trains harder, hoping to prove his value with his strength and make a living through basketball.

In his last year of high school, he averaged about 18 points and 10 rebounds per game, and showed great potential on the defensive end. Therefore, he was spotted by the University of Georgia and has since entered the NCAA stage. However, his bumpy road has not stopped. He has not been reused in the first two seasons, and the school’s positioning for him also made Kamala feel uncomfortable. Finally, after his sophomore season, he submitted an application for transfer and went to the University of Dayton, which is not a prestigious basketball school, to continue his basketball dream. And here, Kamala stays until college. In his senior season, he has become the core of the team and finally scored comprehensive data of 13.9 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.8 blocks, and has a certain draft market. But his shortcomings are also obvious. At the age of 23, he basically has no potential to explore, and his three-point shooting is unstable and his output is not high, which leads to mixed reviews. But since he participated in the 2023 draft, Kamala has already bet on everything. Fortunately, he did not disappoint himself. Through hard training, he impressed the Suns and was finally selected to the 22nd pick in the second round and entered the NBA.

2. It was traded without a fight, but it was worth it in the Trail Blazers.

Time goes back to 2023, and the Suns were gathered in all the stars, with superstars such as Kevin Durant and Devin Booker all on the list, which made Kamala feel very excited. After all, in the first season of her career, she was able to cooperate with these famous stars. Any rookie would feel honored. But reality poured cold water on Kamala. In the transaction where the team sent DeAndre Aiton away, in order to match the salary level, Kamala was sent away as a bargaining chip and went to the Trail Blazers with Aiton. And in this way, Kamala has not even been able to play in any game for the Suns, and he feels the cruelty of the NBA trade, which also makes him train harder just to prove his value. The Trail Blazers were in the reconstruction period at that time. Although Kamala was just a second round pick, coach Chauncey Billups also gave Kamala a lot of opportunities in accordance with the idea of ​​cultivating young people. This allowed Kamala to play a beautiful comeback. He played 70 games in the rookie season and averaged 7.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 0.9 steals per game. It can be said that he has played his own style and successfully entered the team's stable rotation lineup.

In order to further consolidate his position, Kamala did not feel complacent because of his short-term progress. On the contrary, he continued to "torture" himself in the summer of 2024. The three-pointer production is not high and he is not good at shooting. So every day, he focuses on training his three-pointers in training, and his defensive ability is more outstanding, so continue to polish and make his defense better. Moreover, in order to avoid suffering losses in the confrontation, Kamala even conducted physical training crazily just to make herself stronger. As a result, this season, a brand new Kamala has returned. After only taking a look at Kamala's performance in training camp, Billups did not hesitate and directly handed the starting position to him. Average of 11.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.6 blocks per game, with a three-point shooting percentage of up to 37.5%, and a total of 135 three-pointers were made. This is the data handed over by Kamala, a second-year student. He has become a qualified 3D star, especially on the defensive end, and has become the Trail Blazers' number one defender. Although the team's record is relatively bad, Kamala's performance is something everyone can see. This time he was selected for the best defensive second team, which is also the best recognition of him. And after seeing Kamara's rapid progress, I wonder if the Suns executives will regret their bad decision.