FanHouse Trail Blazers

Not only have the Lakers been dominant since the return of Pau Gasol, but they've been fun to watch, too. The home win over the Thunder was a complete circus, where you had Kobe Bryant hitting shots from behind the backboard, followed by an impromptu performance from Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas, who was handed a mic during a fourth quarter timeout to "spontaneously" do one of his hit songs. Things are good right now in L.A., and the rest of the league has a lot of catching up to do -- read on to see where they all rank this week.

Before every single NBA game, both teams line up at their respective ends of the court while the national anthem is performed live. It's a ritual that we've become so accustomed to seeing, that we're not exactly doing a roster check or a headcount to make sure that every player from each team is participating.

If we did, then we'd notice the conspicuous absence of Brandon Roy from the festivities.

Portland's all-world guard has chosen since last season to spend this time alone in the tunnel, instead of on the court with his teammates. And while he's not doing this as any kind of protest, it might be sending the wrong kind of message.

Apparently, when you're a pretty good team but lose to the Warriors, it's time to make some changes. Even if you don't necessarily want to.

And that's what happened with coach Nate McMillan and the Blazers over the weekend. After losing to Golden State 108-94 on Friday night at Oracle Arena, lo and behold there was a different starting lineup for Saturday's game against the Timberwolves: Andre Miller out; Martell Webster in.

Gone is the three-guard starting lineup featuring Steve Blake, Miller and Brandon Roy, and McMillan explained the change pretty matter-of-factly to The Oregonian before his team blew out Minnesota on Saturday: "I want to give the team back to Brandon. It's his team."

The Atlanta Hawks find themselves at the top of our rankings this week, thanks to a five-game winning streak against some strong competition -- a gritty overtime win over the Blazers and a road win in Boston were both impressive. Now, let's see if they can avoid the top-spot-jinx on Wednesday night, when they'll host Miami in a rematch of last year's first round playoff series. As for the other 29 teams? Read on to see how they stacked up.

Rookies. What do they know?

Not much except that, with the per diem paid over the table in NBA instead of under it in college, they need to get the donuts before practice, carry their teammates' bags and stay out of the way of the veterans.

Oh, about that last part? The Nets' Terrence Williams, rookie out of Louisville, may need to work on it a bit.

Video after the jump.

We're just eight games into the season, but there's no doubt who the surprise team is at this point. The Phoenix Suns are off to a 7-1 start, and have road wins over two of the three remaining one-loss teams. They've done it with Steve Nash leading the league in assists at almost 13 per game, and with the team leading the league in three-point shooting at a ridiculous 47 percent. But all of that only got the Suns to No. 2 in this week's rankings -- read on to see who's on top.

Home sweet home. Well, for one night anyway. In front of a 42-inch big screen on opening night in the NBA. Let's go ahead and try to read too much into it ...

• You can't tell me the Cleveland Cavaliers aren't going to come knocking for Stephen Jackson at some point. Looks like LeBron James is going to need some more help.

Hard as this is to say, it doesn't seem like Shaquille O'Neal can even be your No. 2 option. Apparently, the Cavs are reluctant to give up Zydrunas Ilgauskas for Jackson because Cleveland doesn't want to get smaller.

Saturday is Halloween, but don't expect many NBA owners and general managers in this shaky economy to dress up as Bill Gates and throw money around.

Oct. 31 is the annual deadline for one-time first-round picks entering their fourth seasons to be eligible to sign extensions that would kick in for their fifth seasons. For stars, it's a chance to land their first really big contract.

But much is silent as the deadline approaches, meaning the overwhelming number of eligible players from the 2006 first round will become restricted free agents next summer. Three players from that draft -- Andrea Bargnani of Toronto and LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy of Portland -- have inked extensions, but not a lot more activity is expected.

The operative phrase here is "with plenty of time to spare."

The Blazers and LaMarcus Aldridge had been working on an extension, the second of the big two the Blazers needed to lock up to ensure stability in their young, contending core (the other being Brandon Roy). The two had until October 31st to get a deal done in order to avoid Aldridge becoming a restricted agent next summer.

There had been rumors that Aldridge was unhappy about how long it was taking, given the Blazers' hyper-eager approach to Roy's five-year, $80 million deal. With Oct. 31 just 10 days away, the clock was ticking. Both sides were confident a deal would get done, but you couldn't blame Blazers fans for getting nervous.