ESPN

• Your Power Rankings: Where do you rank the Hawks among the elite?
• Vote: Are the Hawks for real, and is Joe Johnson a franchise player?

Fresh off the team's 105-90 win against the Heat Wednesday, it's a good time to be an Atlanta Hawks fan. Joe Johnson is in heady territory at No. 7 on Maurice Brooks' MVP Watch, holding down the fort just behind LeBron James and Dirk Nowitzki. And at 10-2 overall, the Hawks continue holding down the No. 1 spot in John Hollinger's Power Rankings.

So why are so many good seats still available on the bandwagon?

Only 54 percent of SportsNation thinks the Hawks are legitimate contenders, and a majority still like the Magic to win the Southeast. And looking at SportsNation's Power Rankings, it's taken a long time for the Hawks to gain traction.

Lakers fans are understandably excited about the new season, and the defending champs are a popular choice to repeat among bloggers in the ESPN.com community.

"I've never been more excited for the opening of any season, any sport," blogs kurtnaphansen. "The combination of being on the heels of the Lakers winning the NBA championship, of all the trash talk from Cavs, Celtics, Magic, Spurs and even Blazers fans, and of a very new interesting development with the addition of Sheed to Boston, Shaq to Cleveland and Artest to LA."

Below are fan blogs and predictions about the season, which tipped off this week. Click through to respond. If you don't already have an ESPN profile, create one now and start blogging.

More fan blogs

Bulls preview | Cavaliers preview | Celtics-Cavaliers | Cuban best owner in sports | Eastern Conference predictions | Jordan among untouchables | Jordan memories | Letter to LeBron | Magic preview | NBA questions | No worries in Lakerland | Remember the Bulls? | Teams to watch | Traveling rule | Western Conference predictions | Wizards' issues

Fan pictures

• Is the NBA's future in Europe?

Let's get one thing straight: Linas Kleiza isn't exactly a household name. He's a good complementary piece, perhaps even a starter for a non-contender; one of those guys who are nice to have but aren't going to take over a game on a regular basis.

What he is, however, is one in an increasingly long line of trailblazers. Having established himself in the NBA, Kleiza is leaving for Greek team Olympiakos. He's not the first, of course. Europe is fast becoming a destination for midlevel NBA and college talents. Josh Childress is perhaps the most notable example, signing with the Greek powerhouse for big bucks. Brandon Jennings spent time in an Italian league in lieu of college, and Nick Calathes has chosen Greek team Panathinaikos instead of submitting to the vagaries of the draft. (Though Calathes was drafted in the second round and traded anyway. Go figure.)

It seems like a matter of time before a European team springs for an A-level NBA talent, if for no other reason than the money can be surprisingly lucrative. Kleiza is getting paid more than triple his previous yearly salary, while Childress is pulling down a cool $10 million per year in Greece. Chris Webber briefly flirted with the idea of playing for Olympiakos, and rumors had Greek teams looking at Allen Iverson, but so far, no dice.

• Back in 2006, SN wasn't surprised when a Greek team defeated Team USA.
• Most of SN would play in Greece for twice the money, were they a diminutive guard.
• A slight majority of SN thought Brandon Jennings was right to play in Europe.