Send us a text

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

• The Trail Blazers defeating the Lakers Sunday afternoon at Moda Center in the final game of Portland's 2024-25 season

• Both the Trail Blazers and Lakers turning the game over to their younger players

• The Trail Blazers ending the season tied with the Suns and what that means for their draft lottery odds

• Why the random drawing to break ties at the draft lottery matters

• Chauncey Billups and the Trail Blazers agreeing to a contract extension Sunday morning

• Joe Cronin and Chauncey Billups discuss their extensions, the direction of the team, the 2024-25 season, improvements on the defensive end and early expectations going into the 2025-26 season

Send us a text

On this edition of The Brief Case, Trail Blazers beat reporter/Insider Casey Holdahl discusses...

• The Trail Blazers losing to the Bulls in Chicago to end a five-game road trip

• Portland returning home to defeat San Antonio on Sunday, and thus, ensuring a winning record at Moda Center this season

• Being eliminated from post-season contention Sunday afternoon thanks to the Kings defeating the Cavs

• Where the Trail Blazers are at in the current standings and how far up or down they could move with three games to play

• Odds at the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery

• The Trail Blazers agreeing on a contract extension with General Manager Joe Cronin

Send us a text

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

• The Trail Blazers' loss to the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Sunday

• Reaching the midway point of the last extended in Atlanta

• Deni Avdija's impressive stats in the month of March

• Hopes for the play-in have almost entirely slipped away after four-straight losses. 

• The Blazers haven't moved up in the standings but they can still move down, though not that far

• The launch of the Toumani Camara for Defensive Player of the Year campaign and "the box" and the video the team created to promote his candidacy at TheCamaraCase.com

• An interview with Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons

Send us a text

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

• The Trail Blazers wrap up a seven-gamer homestand with a loss to the Cavaliers on Tuesday

• Staring a five-game road trip with a loss to the Kings in Sacramento on Thursday

• Losing three-straight after winning four-in-a-row

• Deni Avdija's stats on March (they're great)

• Portland's increasingly difficult path to making the play-in with eight games to play

• The Trail Blazers being the fourth-best team versus the spread this season

Send us a text

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 Nuggets at Moda Center on Friday in one of the more entertaining games of the season

• The importance of Friday's win for Portland's chances of making the play-in tournament

• The loss to the Celtics on Sunday 

• Portland losing ground in the play-in with the loss and neither Phoenix nor Dallas playing on Sunday (though both play Monday)

• One of the things great teams almost always do

• The Top Golf Swing Suite at Spirit Mountain Casino

• A rundown of the schedules for the teams fighting for the last play-in spot

• The status of the tiebreakers in regard to the last spot in the play-in

• Portland's odds of making the play-in compared to the Suns and Mavericks (and Lakers?)

Send us a text

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

• The Trail Blazers getting their first win since February versus a team with a winning record Wednesday night versus the Grizzlies

• Deni Avdija continues to do things few Trail Blazers have done before

• Duop Reath coming up big when called into action

• Portland being just two games out of the last spot in the Play-In Tournament

• Finishing off a seven-game homestand versus the Nuggets on Friday, the Celtics on Sunday and the Cavaliers on Tuesday

Send us a text

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

• The Trail Blazers breaking a five-game losing streak with back-to-back wins versus the Raptors and Wizards

• What to make of both Toronto and Washington deciding to sit players that started the game

• Matisse Thybulle getting his first action of the season after sitting out the last year

• Other injury non-updates

• Trying to figure out which team -- the Mavs, the Suns or the Trail Blazers -- has the best path to claiming the last spot in the Play-In Tournament

• Portland being 39-29-1 versus the spread this season

Send us a text

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

• The Trail Blazers falling to the Knicks in overtime Wednesday night at Moda Center in one of the most entertaining games of the season

• Scoot Henderson's performance versus the Knicks and how it represents the progress he's made this season

• Deni Avdija taking the reigns and the next step of his career in Portland

• Natalie Zito, formerly Natalie Gilbert, returning to the Moda Center almost 22 year after needing Maurice Cheeks' assistance to perform the National Anthem Wednesday night

• An interview with Dewayne Hankins, Trail Blazers' president of business operations, to discuss the state of the business side of the Trail Blazers, the switch to KATU and over the air broadcasts, the new big screens and video boards, stats as entertainment, expanding access to games, the importance of having an organization that welcomes all, the OneCourt technology, HBCU Weekend, the Women's Summit, the WNBA in Portland and the benefits of having an international roster

Send us a text

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 Pistons in their first game back from an extended road trip

• Celebrating Bill Walton Sunday night in the loss to the Pistons

• Losing to the Warriors in San Francisco in the unofficial end of the Trail Blazers' longest road trip of the season

• Getting close against good teams

• Where the Trail Blazers stand in the race for the Play-In Tournament

• A discussion with Trail Blazers forward Toumani Camara about being named Western Conference Defensive Player of the Month, how much his profile has increased in his second season, how the team played on the trip, coming together on the road, the "put them in a box" celebration and being motivated to make the Play-In Tournament 

Send us a text

On this edition of the Brief Case, presented by Spirit Mountain Casino, Trail Blazers beat reporter/Insider Casey Holdahl, recording from the team hotel in Philadelphia, discusses...

• The Trail Blazers blowing out the Nets in Brooklyn on Friday

• Deni Avdija getting the first triple-double of his career in an overtime loss to the Cavaliers

• How even though they lost, the game versus the Cavs might have been one of their best of the season

• A change in Shaedon Sharpe

• The Trail Blazers coming together over the course of a long road trip

• Defeating the 76ers in Philadelphia Monday night to ensure a better than .500 road trip

• A conversation with Trail Blazers rookie center Donovan Clingan about how the team is playing on the road trip, being back on the east coast, ticket requests, being the last center standing, conditioning, setting screens and whether it changes depending on which player you're screening for, displaying more of his passing ability, defending without fouling (jinx), Shaedon's dunk and fan support on the road