It's pretty much a Steve Nash lovefest in Vancouver, B.C. tonight. Several kids are wearing Phoenix Suns jerseys with Nash's name on the back. And he was swarmed by autograph seekers when he came on the floor for pregame warmup.

The game is sold out, the first preseason game that I've been to that's been sold out. It's also the first NBA game here since the Grizzlies left here in 2001. It makes you wonder why the NBA left here in the first place, particularly given what's happening in Seattle.

The news of the day is Sonics picked up the options on the rookie contracts of centers Johan Petro and Mouhamed Sene today.

Both first-round picks for Seattle, the two signed two-year contracts with options for another two years.

Petro's option is for the fourth and final year of his contract. And Sene's covers the third year of his deal. The fourth-year option of Sene's contract must be picked up by Seattle by Oct. 31 of next year.

Both players have played sparingly in the last couple preseason games. But Seattle coach P.J. Carlesimo still sees potential in both players, as Seattle continues to determine which players they will keep around during its rebuilding process.

In particular, Sene, whose has not played a lot of organized basketball, showed improvement during the preseason.

Starters for tonight are Luke Ridnour (PG), Damien Wilkins (SG), Jeff Green (SF), Chris Wilcox (PF) and Nick Collison (C).

Carlesimo still has not named starters for the beginning of the regular season, but I think it's likely, with the exception of Kevin Durant at the shooting guard and possibly Earl Watson at point guard, that these will be the starters for the first game.

Speaking of Durant, apparently he worked on the treadmill today and took some shots. Durant, who sprained his left ankle against Golden State, is still questionable for Wednesday's regular season opener at Denver.

Carlesimo reiterated that Durant needs to practice before he can play on Wednesday. Listen to the full conversation with Carlesimo here.

Swift is also on the inactive list tonight. Swift has swelling in his right knee.