Brief Case, Ep 103: Deni Arrives, Summer League, International Blazers | Portland Trail Blazers

Brief Case, Ep 103: Deni Arrives, Summer League, International Blazers | Portland Trail Blazers

[Music] this is Tani Kamar and it’s time to open up the briefcase with Casey holdall greetings Blazer fans and welcome to the briefcase episode 103 of the briefcase I’m your host Casey holdall T Blazer summer league practices continue at The Practice Facility in twon as they prepare to head to Las Vegas later on this week beginning their run at the Las Vegas summer league on Saturday versus San Antonio Spurs so plenty of action down in Talon or the last couple days but the summer league isn’t the only thing that’s been going on in swalton lately Denny Avia also made his arrival in Portland on Monday for the first time since the trade on draft night sat down or technically stood up answered some questions from the media we’ll get to that later on in the show also give you an update on international Trailblazers a tough week for your International Trailblazers unfortunately we won’t have as many players as we had hoped to cheer for during the Olympics but we still got at least one guy there some unfair occurrences in the world international basketball that’s just the way it goes sometimes we’ll get to all that on this Edition of the briefcase the preparations are well underway for the Portland T Blazers as they get ready to head to Las Vegas on Thursday to begin their Las Vegas summer league which as I mentioned starts Saturday 6:00 start time versus the San Antonio Spurs Thomas and macarina that game on ESPN 2 some long Lively practices in toatin which makes perfect sense you got a lot of young guys a lot of young legs a lot of guys that are out to try to show that they belong in the NBA trying to get an invitation to training camp trying to get an invitation to the G league so everyone going hard the entire time it’s always great to see those summer league practices the other thing about it too is that you know after a few months off just having everyone back in the gym or a lot of people back in the gym and just having that energy in the building of of preparing and getting ready for something and again the squeaks and the sounds of the Nets and just the sound of action at the practice facility on the court it’s just a it’s just a nice feeling you know it gets you kind of back in the rhythm of things reminds you how exciting and enthusiastic basketball can make you and so it’s been really good time down there in last couple days getting these guys ready to head out to Las Vegas Jonah hu doing the head coaching duties for the trailers of Las Vegas summer league doing a great job though it’s really a complete staff job getting the team ready to go to Las Vegas there’s so many players there so many different positions you have a bunch of different coaches working with a bunch of different players on skill work on drills coaching five on five so you know there’s something for everybody to do and again it’s just the stakes are low so you know you want to work hard but you also feel like you know you can make some mistakes and it’s just a again it’s just a very collegial environment I think it’s really one of the best times of the year because it’s just so much unknown and excitement for what that might mean and you know you’ve got new players and young players are getting a chance to show what they can do it it really gets back to kind of the basics of Developmental basketball and when you have a great group of guys that the Blazers do this year who all want to get better who are all excited about the possibility of improving and about getting to Las Vegas and maybe trying to do something there it’s just the the feeling in the gym is just light and fun and it’s just a again it’s just a good reminder of how fun basketball can be now as we mentioned the Trailblazers only with three players four players who count justtin Mania who are under contract for next season who are on their summer league team Chris Murray and Rion ruper making their returns to Summer League after playing in Las Vegas their rookie Seasons Donovan kingan making his first appearance at the Las Vegas summer league after being selected with the seventh overall pick by the TR blazers at the 2024 NBA draft now whether are some of the things those players are working on Chris Murray’s talked about wanting to work on his body he’s put on some muscle this offseason I know it’s always a joke you know the 5 lbs of muscle but Chris Murray has actually put on some muscle it’s very obvious to tell and he was already kind of a big guy anyways Chris not like any kind of string bean but definitely a guy who you know he’s going to make his bones on the defensive end right now and I think having a little more size being able to play a few more positions having a little more bulk to him it’s probably going to help him out quite a bit obviously his shooting you know three-point shooting is something that if Chris is going to have success in this league I think being a three Indian guy is probably the the easiest path to that so improving his three-point shot definitely something that that has continues to be a work in progress along with his finishing and his all-around game those are things that Chris has talked about wanting to improve on this offseason same a little bit with Ron ruper talked about his decision-making wanted to be a a better playmaker you know the Blazers don’t have a guy who is under contract for next season at point guard who is playing at summer league and while they do have a number of guys on the roster who can handle playing point guard duties you know kind of the point of summer league is to get your contract guys ready for the season and because of that I think you’re going to see a guy like Ral ruper play a lot more minutes at the point forward you know he talked about being more of a point forward working on those skills I think in summer league because while you know you need a point guard out there to kind of get everyone going particularly Donovan kingan you you do need a straight uh point guard at summer league in order to get the team into their offense how much offense are you really able to learn in four or five days of practice but it is helpful to have actual players with point guard experience out there but it’s also important for guys like Ron repair to get some opportunities to to work on the things that they’ve been trying to improve upon in the offseason and Rion had talked about wanting to to be more of a point forward so I what I’m saying is I think you’re probably going to see a lot of Ron playing the point at Summer League at least for the first couple games maybe see how it goes and then if it it’s super struggle and if it’s impeding some of the other players on the team from being able to have success then maybe they go another Direction but one I’m not expecting that and two I think really that Ron developing those skills is going to be really important for this team going forward I mean there’s a good argument that rayon’s development at summer league is the most important developing player on the Blazers at Summer League I mean I think you can make a case for Donovan kingan but having played at Yukon and having had success and having played in back-to-back national championships you know he’s got a pretty good Baseline for high-end basketball competition now granted the NCA aren’t the NBA but I I think he’s probably a little bit further on in that regard than Rion is and so the reason why I say that maybe ran development at summer league is the most important thing is because I think going forward you know that’s maybe a little more of a question mark for this team and so I I think the opportunity to see Rion out there and see the progress that he’s made I think is going to be really important for this team and again I think arguably the most important thing you’re going to see at Summer League this year for the Trailblazers the other thing too and this happened at practice the other day I’m not calling him rots everyone else can call him rops that’s fine I’m calling him R and every time I say R someone thinks I’m saying something else because I really try to put some Accent on it but you guys can all call him RS that’s great nicknames are awesome I’m calling young man R see who play and while it is incredibly important to see what a guy like ran is able to do obviously everyone wants to know how Donovan kingan’s going to play I would say that Zach Edy having that success in their first game at Summer League I think the California summer league and not the Las Vegas one they’ll be playing there as well I think it’s made people really excited for what they’re hoping to see out of Donovan kingan at Summer League I felt this the entire time that you know while centers might not be as important in the NBA as they used to be this notion that there’s no place in the league for guys who are 72 74 who can move a bit and who have been playing high-end basketball their entire lives up to an including in the national championship game that never really sat all that well with me like again you can make an argument like they’re not Shaq you know like that that era of NBA centers and just being big and getting you drafted and getting you on the court that that’s over in the NBA it might come back at some point in time but as of right now it’s not but that doesn’t mean that those guys don’t have value and I think that we’ve gone way too far to one end in terms of well you know the NBA is is pace and space and you need to have Shooters out there all those things are true but at the end of the day if you’re big and you don’t have to basically do anything to dunk the ball that’s a helpful trait too as a basketball player so so a very long-winded way of saying that you know I think centers are maybe having a little bit of a Renaissance in the NBA or at least maybe at summer league so I think seeing what Zach Edy did I think has made people again really enthusiastic and optimistic about what Donovan kingan’s going to be able to do at summer league there’s always talk at Summer League that you know it’s really a guards League it’s not so much men for big men and that’s absolutely true but again I think if a team goes out and tries to play through their big man I think you can have some success there and it’s not really about success not about wins and loss at Summer League it’s about seeing what Donovan clean can do at this stage in his career what he’s good at what you can depend on going into his rookie season and just starting the process of developing a young 20-year-old and so you know I I I think that you know those things are all going to be really exciting and really interesting at Summer League a whole lot of reason to pay attention to the trail bers again even though they don’t have a ton of players on the roster for next season that are playing in summer league a lot of those players are going to be in Las Vegas at times we’ve seen tumani and Shaden and Scoot all in around maybe sometimes on the practice court in wallon as they’ve been getting ready for summer league those guys aren’t going to play at summer league but they are going to be around probably practicing with the team from time to time and so that also has value to getting those guys acclimated to guys like Chris Murray guys like R repair and especially guys like Donovan kingan but there are also obviously other players on the Trailblazer summer league team that are worth paying attention to and a few players that have gotten shout outs from the coaching staff and their teammates during the runup to the Las Vegas summer league couple of those players Alex ree forward Center who played for the remix last season Spencer Jones also guard forward first season out of Stanford both those guys too kind of play similar games have similar body types they’re kind of that kind of broad guy who 10 years ago is probably 34 in the NBA in today’s NBA he’s more of a 4 five both those guys have drawn praise for their physical play and for their shooting especially and I think you’re seeing more and more the idea that you know we need those kind of PJ Tucker is kind of guys who you know maybe not super tall maybe not super athletic but have good size can get it done can shoot from three and can draw the defense out lighten up things for some of the guards when they’re getting double teamed and you know I think we’ve seen that the Blazers are interested in those kind of players and I I felt like through the pre-draft process they had quite a few of those guys come through town they weren’t able to end up drafting any of those guys but I think maybe they’ve seen things out of both Alex Reese and Spencer Jones that makes them feel like maybe we didn’t get kind of that switchy shooter four five stretch five kind of guy in the draft but we have some options out there I think Alex Ree and Spencer Jones two guys that they are very much considering as parts of the team going forward if not with the Trailblazers at least with the remix and then you have players in Jackie q and HJ Lee who have both drawn a lot of Praise from the the coaching staff Jackie for his physicality for kind of just the enthusiasm which he plays the game HJ phenomenal shooter I think maybe he set the record for the most three-point shots maybe just at Summer League or maybe just at for trailers practice period dialed in a guy who played last season for the inir Hawks in the NBL I think both those players have really drawn a lot of praise and might be remixed guys as well the other thing too is that there’s a lot of other teams are going to see some of these players at summer league as well and if guys like Jackie if guys like Alex and Spencer and HJ or any other player on the roster really if you go out and have a nice run at the Las Vegas summer league sometimes that’ll get you training camp invite sometimes that’ll get you a g-league look every single NBA team is at the summer league and quite a few non-nba teams are also at Summer League scouting as well so really an opportunity for these guys to try to catch on find an opportunity to at least get their foot in the door for whatever the next step is in their basketball careers the fact that they’re with the Trailblazers I think gives you a good reason to believe that they are being looked at for the remix obviously plenty of remix staff at The Practice Facility participating and watching these workouts so they’re also doing their evaluations as well so I guess what I’m saying is once again even though you only have three players under contract for Justin manah with a two-way contract playing for the Trailblazers at Summer League still a lot of business to conduct a lot of players to Scout and a lot of reason to pay attention to the Trailblazers five game Run or at least five game Run in Las Vegas which starts later on this week we’ll have more shows from Las Vegas all week long next week so please if you haven’t already like subscribe wherever you get your podcast don’t want to miss out on all the content we’re going to have coming out of Las Vegas as tra Pleasers Tred to win their third Summer League Championship in regards some of the basketball that’s being played outside of Las Vegas recently not a great week for your International Trailblazers two of the three Trailblazers who were hoping to see in Paris for the Olympics not making the cut for one reason or another first off we start with DeAndre Aton who could not lead the Bahamas to a final Victory versus Spain to qualify for the 2024 Olympics in Paris Bahamas fell 8676 to Spain in Valencia on Sunday the winner of that game getting to go to the Olympics loser of that game going home unfortunately Bahamas not able to qualify for the men’s Olympic basketball tournament for the first time in their country’s history you know Spain as I’ve mentioned before not the team that they used to be that you’re going to beat Spain unquestionably the second best team in all of international basketball over the last 20 years on their home court in Valencia just that’s just too hard to do and not to mention the fact that the Bahamas had to beat Argentina twice in Argentina last year to even qualify for the qualifier to end up facing Spain un fortunately falling just one game short Bahamas goes seven and one in pre-qualifying and qualifying and still doesn’t qualify for the Olympics just goes to show how much talent there is out there in international basketball and how hard it is to get one of those spots DeAndre playing his ass off the entire time 17 points 14 rebounds two assists and two steals in 37 minutes in the lost to the Spaniards on Sunday DeAndre averaged 19.5 points on 64% shooting 11.8 rebounds 1.8 assists and 1.5 steals for the tournament he was named to the all-star five of the Valencia qualifier and the fact that DeAndre put in so much work and so much effort into trying to get the Bahamas into the Olympics in men’s basketball for the first time I think should really quiet any kind of idea there is that gandre Aon doesn’t care about basketball or that he it’s not something that drives him the guy has spent significant ific time in his last two off Seasons not getting paid playing for the Bahamas in Argentina and in Spain and in the runup to that which is a couple weeks anyways you know that just goes to show how much he cares about the game how much he cares about his teammates and how much he cares about his country and again I I think those are the kind of things people get jokes off and that’s fine it’s fun basketball is fun it’s an entertainment people are going to crack jokes about things from time to time and there’s no BR it’s it’s fine there’s no big deal but you know when you kind of challenge a guy’s desire over and over and over again and he does things over and over and over again that kind of disprove that I think he’s probably take that to heart a little bit so so I would hope that people would show DeAndre the respect and the appreciation that he deserves for going out and really sacrificing to try to get something accomplished for the Bahamas so you know they did fall just one game short you know they’re probably about one player short at this point time you know they got buddy heel they got Eric Gordon obviously DeAndre the captain of that team edcom the young man who played at Baylor last year is going to be a player but you know that they’re probably just one or two guys short of that team so you know going into the next Olympic cycle in Los Angeles if they’re able to go out and get a point guard and maybe just one more guy that can go out and get a bucket I think the Bahamas has a chance or if they just get an easier draw you know like they had a pretty tough draw in the pre-qualifiers and the qualifiers again playing Spain in Spain is basically just gifting the Spaniards a trip to the Olympics and you know they’ve been there a lot and they deserve it that’s the way preer rankings work if you’re a higher ranked team you get more official draws and Spain has been as I mentioned the second best team in the world for the last 20 25 years so in a couple years when qualifying starts for the next Olympics hopefully the Bahamas have things squared away hopefully get maybe a little bit of an easier draw this next time CU they’re a pretty good team they’re better than some of the teams that did qualify I think but again that’s just the way qualifying goes for the Olympics it’s regional so a lot of times it’s not necessarily what are the best teams it’s what are the teams from these different regions then they play each other and then that’s how you qualify so you know the Bahamas right there very close as I mentioned just maybe one more guy away but shout out to DeAndre for putting in all that work to try to get the Bahamas there you can tell how much it meant to him and again I think that really says a lot about who DeAndre is as a player and as a person so shout out to the Bahamas also shout out to my old friend Rudy Fernandez for qualifying for a sixth Olympics absolutely legendary Rudy Fernandez one of the greats in international basketball great dude great player if it couldn’t be DeAndre Aton in the Bahamas I’m glad it was Rudy Fernandez in Spain but while you may maybe kind of expected the Bahamas wouldn’t qualify because you just know how difficult was going to be to get past Spain in that situation really vexing to hear that batist stable not making the cut for team Australia going to the 2024 Olympics after being a part of the bronze medal team in Tokyo four years ago I don’t understand it uh I will not pretend to be any kind of expert when it comes to Australian basketball but I do pay quite a bit of attention to international basketball probably more than 99% of the rest of the population and uh not taking a guy like matis thol even though you have guys like Dyson Daniels doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me it doesn’t seem like the decision has gone over very well in Australia I keep seeing either on Twitter or when I was doing my research for this you know a lot of people saying like wait we’re not taking matis we’re going to take delova and Joe Les instead of matis styel despite the fact that he’s one of the best perimeter defenders in the world in a group that has Canada and Greece and Spain a lot of great Wing players as GA you got Giannis you got as I mentioned Rudy you don’t have a spot for matis thel on that team that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me again I I’ll just leave it at that luckily dwop wreath did make the cut I expect dap will probably start for the Australians as he did I believe in Japan as well so that’s something to pay attention to we love w i mean the reason why he’s on the Trailblazers is I believe because how well he has played in international basketball so really excited to see a guy like at the Olympics gives you something to pay attention to outside the United States so I mean you got a lot of things to pay attention to too that’s going to be a great tournament lots of talent at that tournament but again that group is ridiculous anyways how you don’t take te I again it it doesn’t I don’t I don’t know I don’t know what the thought process would would be there um best of luck to him I think probably even without matis I probably wouldn’t pick them to advance out of their group because it’s such a devastatingly difficult group definitely think that not having matis thy ball on their team doesn’t improve their chances of advancing so best of luck Boomers you should have taken matis we still want you to win because of dwat but you’d be better off with on that team and a reminder of the Olympics start in Paris at the end of July I believe the basketball tournament starts kind of right from the jump as well so definitely something to pay attention to I believe those games will be on NBC or wherever they throw all of the different streaming games it’s also great too because since it’s in Paris the time differences is just about right to where you know the games are not going to be on incredibly early or incredibly late here on the West Coast so chance to watch some really high Lev basketball this summer I personally I just love International competition you know you see it in in soccer with the euros and the Copa America right now just a different vibe just a different feel of what’s on the line in those games the style of play is a little bit different too you know FBA has got some some different rules that are pretty fun so probably going to be a great tournament tons of talent the United States going to have the work cutout for them they obviously are the front runner they should win the tournament I think they will win the tournament if Canada had had more International experience they have the talent I think they give the United States to run for their money obviously the French have a squad this year as well the French always kind of just seem to fall short at the Olympics for whatever reason and the Canadians as I mentioned they don’t really have a whole lot of experience on the international stage in basketball particularly at the Olympics and particularly this roster that they’re taking to the Olympics so if that weren’t the case I think the United States with this roster would be in trouble I think the construction’s a little weird I think they probably should have taken some younger players rather than diverting to kind of some of all the the guys who are towards the end of their career still very good players but definitely entering the the Ed stages of their careers you know I think they probably would have been better off maybe bringing in some younger players to kind of get those players ready if nothing else but still they have the most Talent they have an incredibly good draw you know the USA’s group is is not especially good not that it really matters USA is not going to get bounced in group play regardless um so it really does matter about the knockout stage but either way United stes check them out doop on Australia check them out Bahamas we should have been checking out so between summer league the WNBA and the Olympics plenty of basketball to take in this summer and with the Olympics too those games basically almost go right into training camp so you know you’re not going to be basketball free for long this off season and if you’re watching this podcast in July I’m guessing that’s fine by you all right finally as I mentioned Denny avvia made his arrival in Portland on Monday let’s go ahead and hear what Danny Avia had to say in his meeting with the media first chance to get in front of Denny I thought it was a really interesting conversation some of the stuff he talked about you know the way he plays some of the details he gave about the trade and not necessarily expecting it those are always the kind of things that I think are are pretty interesting so and also just his enthusiasm for being important you could tell that he’s really excited about the opportunity you know like coming from from the Wizards you know who are in kind of the same place with the Trailblazers you know getting onto the West Coast you know kind of a a different vibe I I think he’s really looking forward to the opportunity to not starting fresh but at least having a a new opportunity and and a chance to to kind of Define who he is on a new team in a different conference all the way on the other side of the country so let was go ahead he what Danny Avia had to say in his introductory press conference at The Practice Facility in twon on Monday um first of all I’m very excited you know a new chapter in my journey um great organization uh they welcome me very very well so it’s a good start and uh as I said you know I’m glad to be in a place that people embrace me and love me I’m I’m going to bring my comp competiveness and um we’re going to have a lot of fun what went into that welcome that made it nice for you just the way in the airport like going out there grab something to eat really talk about the city the culture what they expect from me and um you know just the value of the trade I feel like you know gave up a lot to get me and I feel like it’s uh it’s an honor also the players welcomed me pretty good uh I’ve been seen around the facility so um everybody smiling telling me congratulations and that’s it were you blindsided by the train at all or did you expect something happen I’ll be honest I didn’t expect but as I said sometimes like that’s the business you know I embraced it at the beginning it’s a little shocking DC been my home for four years you know I had some great moments with um with the wizards but now I’m in a different place I was a little shocked it’s tough to leave home but I’m excited to start a new new chapter and um really take this organization to the next level it like for a trade like that to go down on draft day a day that’s already kind of a whirlwind and then it well well I was sleeping so I when when I heard about it um I got to woke up in the middle of the night and figure out I got traded so uh I didn’t go to back to sleep that night um but yeah it was it was pretty uh shocking were you in DC no I wasn’t home I was in Israel is yeah wow I was in Israel it was uh what 2:00 a.m. woke up up um they letting me know W bomb things so uh yeah it took me time to embrace it but now when I’m like over it I feel like I’m in a great spot and I’m very happy you talked about your journey how would you describe your journey up to this point my journey being uh not easy it it never was easy like I I was always uh I was never given gifts I always worked really hard for the things I accomplished and uh since I came to the league uh it’s been a tough r Pride I played with some really competitive and hard players and I feel like uh my role has expanded with the years and I honestly fought for every minute I saw on the court every every chance that I got to get the ball and I try to to do the best I can and it got me it got me here so what what intrigues you about this situation here what are you excited about curious about uh first of all for the fans I heard there’s a very uh very good fan base here so I’m excited to uh be apart um you know and the culture you’re in a different different state you’re in the west coast now so you know seeing the city uh seeing how people interact and um being a part of of Portland is exciting how would you describe your game to someone if you were going to tell them how how Den be a place uh passionate definitely you can see the passion for winning for playing ba basketball I mean I’m always making the right play trying to make the right play as much as I can I’m very uh Team friendly you know I want to do the best I can to make them be better on the court and um just like hard NOS like trying to come do do do his job and just win games that’s it you talked about that expectations that they already talked with you about you know what Arts expectations you’re coming here with the expectations um I’m expecting to be a big part of the team um help them become uh a better team like take it to the next level and honestly I expect to get better every every single day come here and work out uh get the knowledge of of the coaches the organization just become a better uh better player and a better person from what I understand Washington gave you that indication that you were a big part of their plans emotionally how do you handle them partying ways with you I think they really loved me I think I’ve I’ve did I’ve done a lot for the organization for the city um it was just it’s not the timeline I guess I did whatever I can I gave everything I I I could on the on the floor and you know that’s part of the business sometimes it just doesn’t it just doesn’t get along and I feel like we had beautiful years and you know now I’m in in a different organization and I’m I’m trying to get I’m I’m trying to get the the best I can here I’m matured enough in this league to understand the business side of it uh to understand that it doesn’t matter where you at at the end of the day you playing ball you play the game you love and I’m a big competitive guy I love winning uh I love being around people and Mee new people so for me it’s it’s fun to explore a new um there’s a lot of young players on this team trying to find their game find their way and you had a huge jump in your fourth year what can you sort of teach those young players uh lessons you learn I’ll definitely have the talks with with some of the players I’ll definitely try to help uh my teammates and some of the young guys to really helping and uh bring the bring them game game uh up a level uh other than that I’m I’m there I’m here for them and uh we’re going to do it together so what CLI what clicked for you here for maturity understanding my capabilities and skill and just confidence confidence and belief I think the organization the coach especially in the second half of the Season really helped me um make that jump I know you played in 75 games last year is being durable something you you pride yourself in definitely I’m every day in the gym weight room treatment room trying to get my body right it’s really important for me I want to be there for for the team and every game possible um bring my competitiveness bring um bring my uh joy joy to the game and uh I feel like doing all the extra stuff around it really helps helps me do it that’s my goal play as many games as possible I did 82 one one year and I’m going to try to do it again so your shooting in particular took a huge jump last year what went into that is there anything you’ve changed about your shot or was that just working on I haven’t changed I feel like my my really worked on the mental side of of of shooting and really understanding I am a good shooter and I really worked a whole summer uh focusing on a shot and making sure I was confident about it and that’s it I’m not overthinking anything anymore so you’re coming from Wizards team that it’s kind of the same place as the Blazers and that they’re they’re building going forward uh what’s R you learned in that process about kind of staying motivated and staying competitive while you know that that your team is is building towards something later on first of all I understand that in the NBA patience is a big part I’ve seen teams that were not good and now are they’re top of the league so I I really believe this group can be there and also I was making sure that all the losing stuff won’t get into me so much like come every day even though you’re not in a a really good spot in terms of like seeds but uh just come in don’t look at the record just come and play as hard as you can and compete to win for me every every win last year even though we didn’t win as much was big time Big Time for our group big time for me and I’m trying to continue this culture here as well so there you go Denny avia’s first comments as a Trailblazer I thought him saying like they they gave up a lot to get me I thought was a pretty interesting comment you know and that’s something that I don’t know that that kind of people kind of internalize sometimes is that when a team does go out and get you and really does expend assets I mean Malcolm Brogden two first round picks two second round picks you know that ain’t nothing and you know Denny is a very nice player a young player on a great contract so you know you’re willing to to make the expense but I think a lot of times people just talk about that and say like boy maybe you paid a little too much but the other side of that too is the player sees that he’s like hey man these these guys really like me you know there’s there’s some value to that now I’m not saying you should overpay in trades just because you’re going to impress mebe the player you’re getting I’m not saying that but it is a piece where it’s like if you felt like boy maybe maybe that was a little bit too much hearing a player say that I really am honored that you would expend those kind of Assets in order to to acquire me I mean you know that’s that’s not nothing that’s a that’s a good way to start that relationship I would say so you know I thought that was really interesting I thought the way he he talked about the way he plays and passion being the thing he kind of hangs his hat on I think is really important you know this team has talked a lot under chony bips about just wanting to to have a different approach to the game and and having a different culture and I think a guy like Denny Avia who who comes in and plays hard and and really wants to make make his bones on the defensive side of the ball that’s something that this team needs particularly for a young team to to show kind of some of these guys like hey this is the way we approach things this is the way we play you know if you want to have success in this league it’s a difficult League you have to really go out and get it every single night and I think a guy like Danny Avia can kind of lead in that regard particularly a guy who coming from Washington kind of the same situation as the Trailblazers in that you know they haven’t been winning a lot of games as of late and so how do you go about staying motivated how do you go about getting something of value out of those games when you know that kind of on a tonight basis you’re going to be up against it a little bit and so you know having a guy like Denny having that experience being able to come into Portland and want to win and really put a premium on winning while also knowing that like hey even if we’re not winning like we can still conduct ourselves in a certain way that’s going to put us on a path going forward I think that’s really important as well and I think you know that mentality is I think also one of the reasons why they really like Danny Ania and one of the reasons why they again expended those assets in order to acquire them and you know Danny when you get him in the gym and when you just see him kind of in the practice fi it’s just very easy to Envision how he’s going to fit into this team you know that 34 you know is something they’ve they’ve needed to fill for a while you know they’ve had guys at that position you know I was mention they had matis they got Jeremy but but Denny had a at a little bit different place in his career right now and is able to to kind of I think bridge that gap between like the the really young players on the team and the more veteran guys on the team he’s kind of he’s kind of right in the middle of that and I think that’s a good place to be when you’re bringing in players who you know are going to be on your team long term and who who you want to to get into your building and and to really kind of have them be a part of something going forward so having those guys who are both young but who also have some experience helping you develop helping you get enough wins to feeling like you’re accomplishing something but also knowing that hey even if we’re not winning we’re making progress we’re getting better these tough times we’re going through now are going to pay dividends going forward that’s something that is pretty important when you’re embarking on a multi-season rebuild as Trail players are right now and that’s going to do it for this edition of the briefcase thanks so much for joining me as always always might get in one more show before we head off to Las Vegas but if not we’ll definitely have one from Las Vegas here sometime later on this week trbl is leaving on Thursday having Friday off in Las Vegas so they’ll probably have some kind of practice before beginning their summer league Saturday first the Spurs 600 p.m. start time on ESPN 2 at Thomas and Mack if you’re going to be in Las Vegas I will be in Las Vegas I will talk to you from there thank you so much for joining me as always I am Casey holdall go Blazers [Music] n

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

• The Trail Blazers’ preparations for the Las Vegas Summer League

• What Kris Murray, Rayan Rupert and Donovan Clingan are working on this offseason

• Is Rayan Portland’s most important player at Summer League?

• Deandre Ayton and the Bahamas falling just short in their quest to make the Olympics and what it says about DA’s dedication to the game and his country

• The vexing decision to leave Matisse Thybulle off the Australian National Team

• We still got Duop Reath though!

• Deni Avdija’s discusses his thoughts on the trade, how he would describe the way he plays, his career thus far, his role on the team and what he learned in his last few seasons with the Wizards

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