FanHouse Nicolas Batum

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

The Portland Trail Blazers are one of the most exciting teams in the NBA. They are more than ready to make a splash this upcoming season. In this FanHouse exclusive, we talk to Greg Oden, Rudy Fernandez, Nicolas Batum and Jarron Collins to see how training camp is going.

Check out the video after the jump.

Deja vu. Just as the Spurs sent for Tony Parker and his turned ankle earlier this month, the Blazers have recalled their own French star, Nicolas Batum. The young wing has been incredible for Les Bleus in Eurobasket qualifying, turning in the defensive performance Blazer fans have seen and adding some signficant (and heretofore invisible) offensive arsenal in the Old World.

Batum has had a bad shoulder for some five months. Le Monde reports that earlier this week the Blazers requested Batum come back to Portland for a check-up following Friday's critical match against Italy. France crushed the Azzurri, thanks in part to Batum's 18 points, eight rebounds and six steals. Batum hopes to return to the French team soon. Les Bleus, however, won't play a meaningful game until August 27, which is the first leg of the home-and-home which will decide whether the team makes the Eurobasket cut.

Via The Oregonian.

UPDATE: The Blazers have already cleared Batum to return to France. That was fast.

Cherry Picking recaps yesterday's action.

The Blazers and the Rockets are both playoff teams that have their share of obvious flaws. In fact, neither one of them have any business getting out of the first round this season. But thanks to the way the seedings shook out, one of them will advance by default.

Unfortunately for Portland fans, that team is going to be the Rockets, and the reason is rather simple: This Blazers team is just not built for the playoffs.

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

NBA superstar LeBron James is having an amazing season, having led the Cleveland Cavaliers to the best record in the NBA. This makes him the leading candidate for the 2009 NBA MVP, if not bigger, Fabio-like levels of stardom. In this video we catch up with LeBron to hear what he thinks about the award, as well as the Fabio comparison. Plus, we ask LeBron who he pick if he had a vote. We also hear from Al Thornton, Steve Blake, Nicolas Batum and Travis Outlaw, and get their picks for the 2009 MVP too.

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.

In this exclusive video, we talk to NBA All-Star Brandon Roy of the Portland Trail Blazers about his new and exciting young team. Find out why he thinks he's lucky to be on such a good team. We also catch up with Channing Frye, Greg Oden (before his most recent injury) and the newcomer, Frenchman Nicolas Batum, who shares with us the one thing people want to know about his homeland.

Watch the video 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 Rockets had a nice 22-game win streak to hang their hats on in 2008, but that was about it. The injury to Yao really wrecked the team's chances of advancing deep into the playoffs (or even past the first round). If the team can add some athleticism and boost their bench a bit, they could be contenders in 2009.

Picks: #25, #54.

Needs: Not to have the Chinese government force their All-Star center to shut it down mid-season to make sure he's ready for the Olympics. That, and some size to back up said center when he does play. I know it seems like Dikembe Mutombo might just play forever. But I promise you, Rockets fans: he won't.

Best case scenario: Chris Douglas-Roberts would be a nice player to get here, but if the fans were drafting, I don't think he'd be available.