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Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

Blake Griffin, the first overall draft pick, is staying strong after suffering a knee injury during a preseason game. In this FanHouse exclusive, he gives he gives us an update on his injury.

We also talk boxing with Griffin's teammates, as Marcus Camby, Rasual Butler and DeAndre Jordan make their picks in the upcoming Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto fight.

Check out the video after the jump.

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

Halloween is one of those holiday that everyone loves ... including NBA players.

In this FanHouse exclusive, we catch up with NBA stars Amar'e Stoudemire, Eric Gordon, DeAndre Jordan, Ron Artest, Kyrylo Fesenko, Channing Frye, Craig Smith, Goran Dragic and Lou Amundson.

Find out who is most likely to be Hugh Hefner, Magic Don Juan, a lumberjack, Frankenstein and an Army vet.

Check out the video after the jump.

On the eve of yet another rebuilding season, the Los Angeles Clippers revealed on Monday night that Blake Griffin's knee injury was far more serious than initially feared: he's been diagnosed with a stress fracture in his left kneecap (the patella, to be precise) and could be sidelined up to six weeks. He suffered the injury in the team's final preseason game.

The first 30 picks of the 2008 NBA Draft are in the ledger, with first-round type players including DeAndre Jordan, Mario Chalmers, Bill Walker and Chris Douglas-Roberts still on the board. There were not as many trades as we expected based on a crazy, crazy week, but one team made its presence known ... for the third straight year.

Two years ago, Portland turned the #4 pick, Theo Ratliff and Sebastian Telfair into Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge. Last year, the Blazers netted Greg Oden, Channing Frye, Rudy Fernandez and the surgical removal of the wart known as Zach Randolph. This year? Portland ended the first round with Jerryd Bayless and Darrell Arthur -- a guy previously slated to go top-4 and a lottery guy who fell to #27. Simply ridiculous. [UPDATE: Apparently, Arthur and a Portland second-rounder are going to Houston for Nicolas Batum, whom Portland can safely stash in France.]

Kevin Pritchard runs this thing, people. I joked a few days ago that Paul Allen could buy a European club and field a second team with all the talent he has the rights to. It's really not out of the realm of possibilities now, though.

Other first round highlights, after the jump.

Earlier, the Spurs reportedly sent an email blast to the other 29 other teams in the league offering up the #26 pick. Houston has just selected Spurs favorite Nicolas Batum with the #25 pick, and guys like Mario Chalmers, Darrell Arthur, DeAndre Jordan and Chris Douglas-Roberts all remain on the board.

Anyone else think the offers are getting a lot better all of a sudden?

Arthur's presence in the "green room" is practically tragic. It's becoming clear his workout process was flubbed in some way; rumors of injuries kept him for working out everywhere, but apparently those injury rumors were overblown. If Arthur really skipped teams he didn't want to get draft by, it's going to be a loooong night of introspection.

We'll update this with whatever we hear about the Spurs' pick.

UPDATE: The Spurs take a point guard, George Hill of IUPUI, which would be a completely anonymous school were it not for the rampant popularity of NCAA brackets. No word on whether this pick was made for the Spurs or not. San Antonio could in fact use another point. Whoever wanted Hill liked him more than Chalmers, apparently.

America (and the Interwebs) is great because you can bet on anything. And since you can bet on anything, it should be no shock that there are a slew of various proposition bets available for the NBA Draft. BoDog has been kind enough to appease the Jones in all of us.

What will Miami do with the #2 pick in the 2008 NBA Draft?
Draft Michael Beasely and Keep him -- 5/6
Trade Pick or Draft Michael Beasley and Trade him -- 5/6
Draft O.J. Mayo -- 2/1
Draft Any Other Player -- 5/1

Now, Beasley seems like the sensible player to take here, no? But Mayo at 2 to 1 odds (note they were a whopping 5.5:1 yesterday)? With Pat Riley in charge?

Jeff Goodman posted the list of NBA Draft green room invitees today, and you best believe that there is gonna be some heartbreak going down on this list. After all, there are 16 players invited ... and only 14 lottery spots. Mu-ha-ha.

Actually, there's a decent chance that no one on this list will get Quinned (read: fall too far), mainly because NBA teams are much more likely to draft based on "best available" than positional need if someone starts to drop, but draft day can always be surprising. Anyway, here's the list of who will be hanging out back while the cameras catch every instance of shock, surprise and tearful regret.

With the NBA Draft coming up on Thursday night, FanHouse's Tom Ziller took a friend's advice and unilaterally decided what teams ought to do in the first round. Think of it as a shorter version of our ongoing Crystal Ballin' series.

1. Chicago -- Michael Beasley, Kansas State. Fan consensus would have the point guard from Memphis here, and it looks like John Paxson will swing that way, too. It looks like a whole lot of Chris Paul-induced "pure point" fervor to me. Beasley, though, is the rare unassailable post presence who also boasts great perimeter skills and extraordinary tenacity on the court. With a team so desperate for points on something other than jump shots, Beasley fits right in.

2. Miami -- Derrick Rose, Memphis. The Heat, on the other hand, has some firepower in the paint, between Dwyane Wade's irrepressible slashing and the alternating efforts of Shawn Marion and Udonis Haslem. But Wade needs help running the show. Rose would provide the right engine to push Miami's offensive abilities while offering some backcourt defensive support.

3. Minnesota -- Brook Lopez, Stanford. Like any other basketball aesthete, I have cracked some Brook Lopez jokes. But behind the Cheetah Girls t-shirts, he's a good prospect. The biggest thing he can offer Minnesota in some interior anchorage on defense. Al Jefferson got abused routinely in the paint last season, with nary a partner to help stunt the opponent. Lopez immediately fortifies the effort, maybe not creating a good defense by himself, but at least helping out. Oh, and he can score too.

27 more picks of questionable logic after the jump.

Crystal Ballin' takes a team-by-team look at what should, could, and probably will happen in the June 26th NBA Draft.

The Kings won more than expected under Reggie Theus. But they still remain firmly on the outside of the Western playoff picture and look ready for a serious shake-up. Or at least a serious milkshake. Dang, it's hot.

Picks: #12, #43, #44.

Needs: Sacramento has no point guards under contract for next season. Also, the Kings have no starting power forwards not named Mikki Moore or Kenny Thomas under contract for next season.

Best case scenario: The Kings worked out both D.J. Augustin and Russell Westbrook, and you'd think they would be thrilled to see either of these fellows slip down.

FanHouse's NBA Frankenstein, in which we describe how draft prospects were created. Introducing: the annual draft entry for Best or Worst Use of Incredible Body, Stromile Swift division: Texas A&M's DeAndre Jordan.




Liner notes: Aristotle's On the Soul; the Robert Swift Theorem; Pomeroy; Foreign Policy's recent look at international energy markets; Mike D'Antoni's playbook.

Photos by Getty Images. Assemblage by Ziller.

Previously on NBA Frankenstein
Michael Beasley | Derrick Rose | Brook Lopez | Robin Lopez
Kevin Love | Jerryd Bayless | O.J. Mayo | Danilo Gallinari
Eric Gordon | Joe Alexander