A look around the Northwest Division today.

Seattle: Here’s our game story from yesterday along with notes.
Some national perspective on Kevin Durant’s performance is provided here.

Also, ESPN analyst John Hollinger published his Player Efficiency Rating (PER) rankings for all NBA players. And Hollinger provides an overview explaining what PERS is.

Seattle’s highest ranked player is Chris Wilcox (75), followed by Luke Ridnour (114). View the Sonics full team listing here.

And here’s an update on former UW player and current Sacramento King Spencer Hawes, who will have knee surgery today.

Portland: Good news for Blazers fans, as the pain in Brandon Roy’s heel seems to have subsided enough for him to practice. The Blazers prepare for their preseason opener tonight at the Rose Garden against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Denver: The Nuggets kicked off their preseason with a win over the Clippers. But apparently Denver fans are still caught up in the euphoria of the Colorado Rockies still being in the playoffs, and have not yet turned their attention to the NBA.

Utah: The Jazz open their preseason schedule against Milwaukee tonight. This story looks at how Jazz fans will react to Andrei Kirilenko, who asked to be traded earlier but has now mended fences with the organization.

Minnesota: The Timberwolves and former franchise player Kevin Garnett, now playing for Boston, will meet for the first time today in Europe. Minnesota coach Randy Whittman said playing NBA regular season game in Europe could be unfair for the teams involved.

I’ll have a report from practice later today along with an update on the arena situation. The City of Seattle and the Sonics are supposed to have a hearing in court today regarding the lawsuit over terms in the lease agreement.