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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.

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These are heady times in the Twin Cities. Brett Favre (steady on, you may hear that name a few more times today) gets his first look at the Packers tonight on Monday Night Football. Tuesday brings the Twins trying to complete a less tiresome comeback when they face the Tigers in a playoff ... tiebreaker ... really big game.

And we haven't even gotten to Sunday's thriller in front of roughly 4,000 people that saw the Timberwolves torch the Bucks (Roko Ukic vs. Mustafa Shakur; it's fantastic!) in the NBA preseason. Or the Wisconsin Badgers improving to 5-0 and claiming Paul Bunyan's Axe by beating the Golden Gophers on the gridiron in Minneapolis Saturday. You usually need a snow shovel to have this much fun in Minnesota.

We've got plenty of questions about the Packers and Vikings and Tigers and Twins, but first and foremost, which game is a bigger deal?

• Vote on Monday's game: Packers at Vikings | Vote on Tuesday's game: Tigers at Twins
• Chat : MNF with Football Outsiders, 7:30 p.m. ET | MLB with Eric Young, 3 p.m. ET
• Just for the heck of it : Got a Wild question? Talk NHL with Scott Burnside at 4 p.m. ET

• Vote: How many games will the Timberwolves win without Rubio?

So we've learned SportsNation would rather watch new Barcelona point guard Ricky Rubio than Barcelona soccer payer Lionel Messi. But is Rubio fast becoming the most tiresome story out of Minnesota since another type of football great tortured our summers?

The Spanish point guard isn't yet part of the Minnesota sports scene -- and 71 percent of SportsNation believes he never will be after delaying his NBA arrival until at least 2011. But the story fatigue sure feels like watching a remake of the Brett Favre soap opera, as Timberwolves general manager David Kahn suggests Rubio backed out of a deal, and Rubio suggests a move to Minnesota was too risky.

Rubio knows highlights, but considering 80 percent of voters don't think he'll ever be a star, blogger bball4life578 may speak for many in destroying -- in detail -- the Rubio myth.

• "To me, this is a classic cop-out by Rubio as well. Wanting to stay over in Spain for a couple more years so he can become more NBA ready tells me he's scared of becoming the next top bust in NBA Draft history and in the process, embarrassing himself off the many floors of NBA arenas. Hey Ricky, if you didn't feel like you were ready for the NBA, than you never should have entered the draft in the first place! -- Read the full post from bball4life578.

Los Angeles has Kobe Bryant and Blake Griffin. Miami has Dwyane Wade and Hanley Ramirez. Maybe Washington, D.C. will even get in on the act with Alex Ovechkin and Stephen Strasburg.

But if you're talking about the sheer exhilaration of watching two highlight-worthy athletes, Barcelona may rule the world. When it comes to Lionel Messi and Ricky Rubio, just edit highlights, add music and you've got instant goose bumps.

• Youtube: Watch the case for Messi | Watch the case for Rubio
• Vote: How many games will the Timberwolves win without Rubio?

• Vote: Take the Quentin Richardson tour of the country.

Apparently Quentin Richardson comes with a warning that if you do not forward him to a friend within 30 days, great misfortune will befall you. Although considering the Clippers, Grizzlies, Knicks and Timberwolves are among the teams he's been "employed" by since last playing an NBA game, maybe the curse is more of a retroactive deal.

Richardson is not a star player. His impact on the upcoming season probably ranks somewhere in the vicinity of Glen Davis remaining in Boston or Leon Powe heading to Cleveland. But we can't help ourselves; Richardson's tour, paper tour though it may be, of NBA cities is worthy of a blind Greek poet (preferably of the deceased variety).

Let's run through this. On April 15, Richardson scored nine points in 11 minutes as the Knicks closed the regular season with a win against the Nets. On draft night, the Knicks dealt him to the Grizzlies (for Darko Milicic of all people). Then the Grizzlies traded him to the Clippers, who traded him to the Timberwolves, who just traded him to the Heat.

Considering Richardson shot 39 percent from the field last season, we're starting to wonder if Washington, D.C., really has the most popular "Cash for Clunkers" program.

• Voters don't think Dwyane Wade is sticking around beyond this season.
• Groups: Real Miami Heat Fans | Minnesota Sports Fans | Memphis Grizzlies fans

Would you rather own a house in a neighborhood with potential or rent in the swanky part of town? We should probably mention the former comes with an average of 49.9 inches of snow each year, while the latter comes with a beach and 49.9 fewer inches of snow. And Kobe Bryant. We're not sure how that fits in the analogy.

It's not clear that choice confronts Lakers assistant Kurt Rambis just yet, but if reports are true that he's the leading candidate for the Timberwolves' vacancy, it may.

So what would you do? On the Minnesota side, you get some good young players like Al Jefferson, Kevin Love, Jonny Flynn and Corey Brewer, even if voters aren't sure that's a winning foundation with or without Ricky Rubio. On the Los Angeles side, well, you get another year with Phil Jackson and Bryant, but you also get another year older hoping the Buss family isn't going to turn out like Hank Steinbrenner minus all the cash.

• Still some confidence in SportsNation that Rubio eventually plays for Wolves.
• Vote: Are the Timberwolves building a winning team?
• Groups: Minnesota Sports Fans | Lakers | Real Laker haters

• Rankings: Would you put Kevin Love in your top 12 for Team USA?

As far as Twitter goes, it's certainly less memorable than breaking the news of your coach's departure, but Kevin Love is once again proving wily in his use of new technology and living up to his nickname as "The Big Twitter." If he figures out how to get himself a raise in 140 characters or less, we'll be even more impressed.

ESPN.com's Chris Sheridan wrote about the chance Mike Krzyzewski is taking by staying on with USA Basketball through the 2010 World Championship and 2012 Olympics, rather than riding comfortably into the sunset after winning gold last year. Once done reading all about it, SportsNation had a chance to put together the Team USA it would take through the next three years.

One of the options was, you guessed it, Kevin Love, a big man with passing and rebounding skills ideal for the international game. And once Love caught wind of his virtual candidacy, he took to the tweet to rally supporters to the cause (granted, a cause that doesn't include an actual seat on the flights to Turkey and England, respectively).

We're sorry to say the outcome isn't looking good for Love, despite a surge of late support for the former UCLA star with a penchant for long-distance shots. As consolation for the Love faithful who heeded his call, we invite you to listen to his podcast visit with Bill Simmons, left.

For everyone else, here are SportsNation's top 12 for Team USA.

G: LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Brandon Roy
F: Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, Kevin Garnett
C: Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire

• Voters wouldn't even trade Coach K for Phil Jackson on Team USA.
• Check out who SportsNation wanted for the Redeem Team last year.
• SportsNation Groups: Team USA!!! | Minnesota Sports Fans | UCLA Bruins

There is a post about a trade between the Clippers and Timberwolves in which Mark Madsen figures semi-prominently and which lacks a clear winner? Yep, it's late July in the sports world. It's pretty much this or T.O.'s latest television escapades (or the obligatory Brett Favre update on when he plans to update his status).

And there is something of interest about the trade sending Quentin Richardson to the Timberwolves for Sebastian Telfair, Craig Smith and Madsen, if only because Richardson is becoming the human re-gift in the NBA.

The former DePaul star (that was a division's worth of cities ago) is on his fourth NBA team ... of the summer. He finished the season with the Knicks and subsequently bounced from the Big Apple to the Grizzlies, Clippers and now Timberwolves. He also has the dubious distinction of being traded for Telfair, Zach Randolph and Darko Milicic, three of the more cringe-worthy names in recent NBA memory. Randolph is a 20-10 guy, yet SportsNation still said his absence would almost be preferable. But really, we're sure you'll be pleased with your purchase, Minnesota. Just don't forget where you put the box he came in.

• Telfair's gone, but voters say Ricky Rubio still isn't coming to the backcourt.
• 'Nation thinks Allen Iverson would serve the Clippers better than Telfair.
• Rankings: Which NBA teams have made the most of the offseason?

• From the defending champs to the defending lottery winner, rank all 30 teams.

NBA Insider David Thorpe breaks down the NBA's summer leagues in the video above, including a very un-Olowokandi debut for No. 1 pick Blake Griffin. (Did you know Griffin has a low waist? Neither did we.) But as much or as little as we gain from summer league numbers -- Roy Hibbert has looked downright adequate, for crying out loud -- the real summer league comes with general managers and agents dueling over draft picks, luxury tax implications and free-agent offers.

The most recent news came Monday with the Magic matching the Mavericks' hefty offer to Marcin Gortat. Yes, we live in a world where Marcin Gortat's whereabouts for the next five years are a big deal. Get used to it. More than 90 percent of SportsNation feels like $34 million over five years might be a tad excessive for Gortat, but that's not really the question. When it comes to whether the Magic needed to pay it, voters are entirely divided.

So with many of the offseason's major addition and subtractions in the books, what do your NBA Power Rankings look like?

• Rumors of Iverson to the Clippers? Voters prefer Baron Davis and Eric Gordon.
• Keeping Grant Hill and adding Channing Frye doesn't make Suns a contender.
• The Warriors lost Jamal Crawford but Stephen Curry in the draft, and SportsNation blogger -- and pained Warriors fan -- connorcuc thinks it's time for a coach interested in defense and a new mentality for a franchise stuck in neutral.
• Although they aren't among Allen Iverson's rumored potential landing places, SportsNation blogger allikskat wonders why teams like the Timberwolves and Knicks haven't shown any interest in the veteran.
• Groups: Orlando Magic Hoops | Warrior Hoops Nation | Dirk's Posse | Phoenix Suns fans

Ricky Rubio doesn't know how good he has it. According to the National Climatic Data Center (and really, who doesn't want to start the week with a meteorological link?), Minneapolis gets lets snowfall per year than Cleveland and Salt Lake City, not to mention former NBA hotbeds Syracuse and Rochester. Heck, compared to the more than 320 inches of snow they get in Valdez, Alaska, Minneapolis might as well be Majorca.

So what's Rubio's problem? Only about 10 percent of voters actually think the weather is the biggest factor in the Spanish guard's reluctance to join the Timberwolves. But voters are split on whether it's the market or the team that is the biggest sticking point.

• While most of the nation is split on whether or not it was a mistake for the Timberwolves to draft Rubio, Minnesota is overwhelmingly sure it was a dumb move.
• New York one of few states expecting Rubio to play for another NBA team next season. Wonder which team they have in mind?
• Fan groups: Knicks Fan Club | Minnesota Sports Fans | NBA Fanz Only
• SportsNation blogger danielcmarshall keeps it short but still manages to throw Marian Hossa under the bus in suggesting Rubio is evil.