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On this edition of The Brief Case, presented by Spirit Mountain Casino, Trail Blazers reporter/Insider Casey Holdahl discusses...

• Deni Avdija being named to the 2026 NBA All-Star Game for the first time in his career

• Needing to do a little bit extra in order to make your first All-Star roster

• The Trail Blazers having at least three players at the 2026 NBA All-Star Weekend between Avdija, Donovan Clingan and Yang Hansen

• The Trail Blazers trading for 6-8 guard/forward Vit Krejci from the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Duop Reath and two second-round picks

• Krejci providing three-point shooting and playmaking, two things the Trail Blazers desperately need

• Bidding a fond farewell to Duop Reath, one of the best people you'll find in the NBA or otherwise

• Portland's losing streak extending to five games with a loss to the Cavaliers at Moda Center on Sunday

• Blake Wesley returning to the lineup Sunday after missing the last few months with a broken foot

• Scoot Henderson also getting close to making his debut after missing the first part of the season with a hamstring injury

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On this edition of The Brief Case, presented by Spirit Mountain Casino, Trail Blazers reporter/Insider Casey Holdahl discusses...

• The Trail Blazers starting an all Moda Center back-to-back with a rare victory versus the Miami Heat in Portland

• Portland finishing up a stretch of playing eight of 10 games at home with a tough start and a tough finish in a loss to the Toronto Raptors Friday night

• Heading out for a three-game Eastern Conference road trip with stops in Boston, Washington, DC and New York City

• The snow is falling as the east coast braces for a winter storm and how that might impact the Trail Blazers

• A conversation with Trail Blazers guard/forward Sidy Cissoko after practice at Boston University on Sunday about how the team is playing, particularly since the start of 2026, gaining experience through the course of the season, wanting to play 110 percent, the job of a two-way player, where he’s improved the most this season, trying to be more like Toumani Camara, starting as a two-way, team chemistry, having an international locker room, playing with an attitude, coming up on the 50-game limit as a two-way player, wanting to get the Trail Blazers back to the playoffs and the proper pronunciation of “Sidy Cissoko.”

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On this edition of The Brief Case, presented by Spirit Mountain Casino, Trail Blazers reporter/Insider Casey Holdahl discusses...

• The Trail Blazers blowing out LeBron James and the Lakers at Moda Center on Saturday to begin a weekend back-to-back

• Following up the win versus the Lakers on Saturday with another versus the Kings in Sacramento on Sunday

• The Trail Blazers have won the 2025-26 season series versus three of the four California teams

• Deni Avdija makes a well-timed return with Jrue Holiday, Jerami Grant and Robert Williams III all sitting out the second night of a back-to-back

• Deni Avdija finishing fifth in fan voting but ending up seventh in the total vote for the 2026 NBA All-Star Game Western Conference starters

• Deni Avdija passing Victor Wembenyama and Anthony Edwards in the final fan voter tally and getting more votes in the last week than a lot of players got over the entire voting period

•Fingers crossed that Deni Avdija is announced as an All-Star reserve, which is decided by coaches vote

• With yet another new format this year, there are still a lot of unanswered questions about how the teams will be put together at the 2026 NBA All-Star Game

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On this edition of The Brief Case, presented by Spirit Mountain Casino, Trail Blazers reporter/Insider Casey Holdahl discusses...

• The Trail Blazers just not having the bodies to compete with the Warriors Tuesday night in San Francisco

• Jrue Holiday's return after missing two months seems to be going well

• Portland gets a huge boost from their bench in Thursday's win versus the Hawks

• One of the few positives about having so many injured players

• Jerami Grant returns to the lineup after missing a month with Achilles soreness

• Deni Avdija seems to be improving after missing the last two games with a back injury

• Yang Hansen is assigned to the Rip City Remix for the second time this week

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On this edition of The Brief Case, presented by Spirit Mountain Casino, Trail Blazers beat reporter/Insider Casey Holdahl discusses...

• The Trail Blazers following up a win versus the Rockets on Wednesday at Moda Center with another on Friday in the rematch, also at Moda Center

• Toumani Camara responds to losing a tooth by posting a career-high in scoring

• Clutch free throws, a perfect night shooting from Sidy Cissoko and Duop Reath always staying ready helps Portland secure the second-straight win versus Houston

• Deni Avdija's comments after the victory regarding how the way he plays and how that effects the way he's officiated

• Portland having a five-game winning streak and a four-game homestand ended with a loss to the New York Knicks Sunday afternoon

• The Trail Blazers running out of rallies versus the Knicks

• Deni Avdija leaving Sunday's game in the fourth quarter with an apparent back injury

• Jrue Holiday returning to the lineup in Sunday's game after missing the last two months with a calf strain

• How Jrue feels the day AFTER the game being more important than how he felt DURING the game

• Jrue Holiday being on a minutes restriction and how that would be impacted by whether or not Deni Avdija misses any time due to injury

• Portland facing the Warriors in San Francisco on Tuesday before returning to Moda Center to host the Hawks and Lakers

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On the latest edition of The Brief Case, presented by Spirit Mountain Casino, Trail Blazers reporter/Insider Casey Holdahl discusses...

• The Trail Blazers getting their fourth-straight victory with a gutsy win versus the Rockets Wednesday night at Moda Center

• Deni Avdija posting season-high in scoring versus the Rockets

• Toumani Camara proves his toughness once again

• A lowkey encouraging performance from Yang Hansen

• Thoughts on the rematch versus the Rockets on Friday

• The upcoming schedule and whether the Blazers can get back to .500 by the end of the month

• Deni Avdija remains seventh in All-Star fan voting with one week to go

• Donovan Clingan (and maybe Caleb Love?) should be included in... whatever the Rising Stars Challenge looks like this year

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On this edition of The Brief Case, presented by Spirit Mountain Casino, Trail Blazers reporter/Insider Casey Holdahl discusses...

• The Trail Blazers losing the first three games of a five-game homestand

• Portland defeating the Celtics in the fourth game of the five-game homestand to get their first win versus Boston in the last three seasons

• The Trail Blazers doing a good job of controlling what they can control in the second half versus the Celtics

• Portland finishing out their holiday homestand with a harrowing victory versus the Dallas Mavericks Monday night

• Deni Avdija's near triple-double 

• When Caleb Love plays well, the Trail Blazers' chances of winning seem to improve considerably

• Deni Avdija coming in seventh in Western Conference All-Star fan voting in the first round of returns released Monday

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On this edition of The Brief Case, presented by Spirit Mountain Casino, Trail Blazers beat reporter/Insider Casey Holdahl discusses...

• The Trail Blazers beating the Kings in overtime Thursday night at Moda Center

• You've got to learn how to win "ugly" games in the NBA

• Facing the Kings again Saturday night, this time in Sacramento

• The 1999-2000 Trail Blazers roster returning to Moda Center for a reunion at Monday's game versus the Pistons

• Celebrating that team that came a quarter short from a trip to the NBA Finals has been a long time coming

• The team putting a renewed emphasis on welcoming back former players and coaches

• All-Star voting is open and you should stuff the ballot box for Deni Avdija, who is putting up numbers this season that only Luka, Jokic and Giannis are hitting

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On this edition of The Brief Case, presented by Spirit Mountain Casino, Trail Blazers beat reporter/Insider Casey Holdahl discusses...

• The Trail Blazers losing to the Pelicans in New Orleans Thursday night in a "NBA Cup Consolation Bracket" game

• The Trail Blazers having just 10 players -- eight on NBA contracts and three on two-way contracts -- in uniform on Thursday, with none of those players being taller than 6-9

• Hosting the Warriors on Sunday -- it's Damian Lillard collectable glass night! -- and then having three days off before a home-and-road series versus the Kings

• There's no point in trying to predict when players will return from injury, though hopefully that will be the case with so many off days coming up

• Deni Avdija being named to ESPN's "Top 25 Players Under The Age of 25" list

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On this edition of The Brief Case, presented by Spirit Mountain Casino, Trail Blazers beat reporter/Insider Casey Holdahl discusses...

• The Trail Blazers going down, coming back, but then losing down the stretch to the Pistons in Detroit on Friday night

• Portland finishing up a four-game trip with a 119-96 loss to the Grizzlies in Memphis

• The Trail Blazers having time to rest and recuperate with only two games over the next 10 days

• Yang Hansen being assigned to the Remix on Wednesday night and then posting 20 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals in a 135-128 overtime loss to the San Diego Clippers Thursday night at Chiles Center

• Hansen being recalled by the Trail Blazers and starting versus the Grizzlies in Memphis with both Donovan Clingan and Robert Williams III out

• The tricky balance of knowing when to assign Hansen to the Remix and when they'll need him to play for the Trail Blazers

• The Remix hosting two games this week versus the Salt Lake City Stars, heading to LA to play one game versus the South Bay Lakers and then returning to Portland to host two games versus the Stockton Kings