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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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An NBA player tweets his response to a blogger's suggestion, based on an increasingly popular statistical metric, that the player, likeable as he is, may have a few more holes in his game than conventional wisdom holds. Somewhere, Bill Fitch, Norm Nixon and Jeff Ruland are wondering what the heck just happened.

A short takeout from Henry Abbott's post:

• "Sometimes +/- can punish players simply for being on bad teams, but this is more than that. Mavericks' statistical expert Wayne Winston's in-depth lineup data shows that every one of Durant's key teammates -- Russell Westbrook, Jeff Green, Nenad Krstic, Nick Collison -- gets better, in many cases far better, results playing with less heralded teammates Thabo Sefolosha or Kyle Weaver while Durant sits."

Earlier this year, SportsNation voters had Durant on their ideal Team USA roster through the 2012 Olympics. But are expectations getting out of hand for a would-have-been college senior?

• Your Rankings: Is Kevin Durant in your top 10 preseason MVP candidates?

“

Oh, and while the plus minus stat does not directly prove that Kevin Durant is the problem, its important to know that Kobe, Dwayne, LeBron, CP3, Nash, Howard, and Pierce all have very positive ratings on that stat.. They wouldn't have that stat if it didn't mean anything.

” -- wemple_13

“

Not that Durant needed to respond to made up stats...but he clarified well. Wins and losses tell the story and without Durant, they would have even more losses than they had.

” -- kinglywarrior

NO. 1: LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS
Bill Simmons thinks Blake Griffin should run away as fast as he can. Even after watching his favorite coach head to New York and Shaquille O'Neal come and go, Steve Nash still has it easier than Griffin, according to SportsNation. And did we mention the traffic? Welcome to the NBA, kid.

• More than half of voters think Griffin would have gone third or lower last year.
• Clippers jokes aside, 43 percent expect them in the playoffs within two seasons.
• Oklahoma one of only states that expects Griffin to be an NBA star.

“

I feel bad for Clipper fans. The organization sucks, not the team. They manage to MISmanage every star player they have had. I used to think it was all Elgin Baylor but he his gone and they still suck. Oh well Griffin will get paid and do his time. When his rookie contract is up he will jet.

” -- BigVilFromWestPhil

NO. 2: MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES
Good barbeque and bad basketball. Since Robert Traylor's no longer in the mix, the former isn't enough of a selling point to convince current prospects to fix the latter. Ricky Rubio supposedly won't go there. Hasheem Thabeet canceled a workout. How are they supposed to draft someone they can later give away in a trade?

• SportsNation thinks Hasheem Thabeet a better fit for Grizzlies than Ricky Rubio.

“

Memphis is tailor made for Rubio, you need 2 solid PGs to succeed in this league, sometimes 3.

” -- walnutkid07

NO. 3: OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER
It appears a Red River tandem of Kevin Durant and Blake Griffin isn't in the works, but Taylor Griffin is still available. Hey, it worked for Harvey Grant.

• SportsNation and Chad Ford concur; it's Ricky Rubio to the Thunder.

“

Blake Griffin is obviously the best talent, but I believe a defensive minded, rebounding center like Hasheem Thabeet would be a great fit for the talent currently on the roster. He would essentially knock Krstic down to the four, Green to the 3, and Durant to the 2 guard slot while his body fills out. Only if Griffin isn't available, though.

” -- dustemoff151

We like to think that somewhere, in whatever afterlife, reincarnation, biodegradable scenario you choose to believe in, we will all be held accountable for our mock drafts. Let's just say that if you don't get at least 10 picks right, you're coming back as a Clippers fan.

With that out of the way, let's take a spin around SportsNation's mocks.

• Things take a quick turn for the different in TheGodOf6thGear's mock, with the Thunder passing on both Ricky Rubio and James Harden to get Kevin Durant some frontcourt help.
• Things are a tad more conventional in manny24435's take on things, although even Duke alum Grant Hill didn't have Gerald Henderson going this high in ESPN The Magazine's mock draft.
• The top 10 is all codywin25 concerns himself with (come on, Michael Jordan could use all the help he can get), but that's enough time to find an interesting home for Stephen Curry.
• Blogger GOBIIIGCOUGS dispenses with the first round and goes right to lobbying on behalf of Washington State guard Taylor Rochestie as a second-round sleeper. Too much time in the Palouse may have gone to his head.

Join in lottery conversations: No. 1 Clippers | No. 2 Grizzlies | No. 3 Thunder | No. 4 Kings | Nos. 5, 6 Timberwolves | No. 7 Warriors | No. 8 Knicks | No. 9 Raptors | No. 10 Bucks | No. 11 Nets | No. 12 Bobcats | No. 13 Pacers | No. 14 Suns

“

If God cares about Blake Griffin, he will compel the Clippers to trade the #1 pick to OKC.

” -- bman5780

“

This is a very important week for the Wolves, lets hope Khan doesn't jack it up. Thursday: Draft. Friday: Find a head coach. Saturday: Apologize to Al and the remaining players on the team who didn't get traded away Thursday night. Sunday: Send out email to season ticket holders and potentials kissing their butt. Big week Khan. Big week.

” -- n0tbradpitt

The Washington Wizards apparently cast their vote on the strength of this year's draft class, reportedly bailing out of the No. 5 spot in a trade with the Timberwolves that landed them Randy Foye and Mike Miller, but is this year's collection of talent really the hoops version of Patti Blagojevich, John Salley and the rest of the "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me out of Here" marooneed C-listers?

At the very least, this year's group of NBA rookies may be no less compelling than their NFL peers. Almost the same percentage of SportsNation deems the basketball rookies to be above average as held the same view about Matthew Stafford, Michael Crabtree and the gridiron newcomers in April.

While Chad Ford, Doug Gottlieb, Jay Bilas and others have their opinions, here's how SportsNation rates the top talents.

1. Blake Griffin (SN predicted pick: No. 1, Clippers)
2. Ricky Rubio (SN predicted pick: No. 3, Thunder)
3. Hasheem Thabeet (SN predicted pick: No. 2, Grizzlies)
4. Stephen Curry (SN predicted pick: No. 8, Knicks)
5. Tyreke Evans (SN predicted pick: No. 6, Timberwolves)
6. James Harden (SN predicted pick: No. 4, Kings)
7. Jonny Flynn (SN predicted pick: No. 10, Bucks)
8. Brandon Jennings (SN predicted pick: No. 13, Pacers)
9. Jordan Hill (SN predicted pick: No. 5, Timberwolves)
10. Jrue Holiday (SN predicted pick: No. 7, Warriors)

• Rank your own top 10 | Fill out a first-round mock draft
• Fan groups: OKC Thunder | Memphis Grizzlies fans | Minnesota Sports Fans

Even as Wimbledon begins without Rafael Nadal, Spain offers up perhaps the biggest certainty and arguably the most compelling uncertainty of the week in sports. Even as SportsNation comes around to the idea that the United States is probably going to lose to Spain in the Confederations Cup, the curious case of Ricky Rubio continues.

Chad Ford's latest mock draft has Rubio going to the Thunder with the third pick in this week's NBA draft. A plurality of SportsNation voters agree he goes third, but that still means 62 percent of them think he's coming off the board before or after that. We don't know if Doug Gottlieb voted, but as the video below suggests, he's hedging his bet on exactly where Rubio goes.

• SportsNation blogger dedalotw2003 is two mocks behind Ford's pace, but we'll excuse it just this once. He adds to the Rubio speculation by suggesting he'll slip to No. 5.
• Is Ricky Rubio not this draft's best bet among guards?

“

This draft is better than people realize. How can you say there won't be any stars? Emeka Okafor, Tyrus Thomas, Marvin Williams, Gred Oden & Michael Beasley were projected to be stars immediately and ALL FIVE have disappointed.

” -- migarvin21

“

This is indeed a weak draft. Beyond the top 3, teams will be banking on a kid being a surprise talent or a role player only. I'm sure that those surprise players will show up, it's just really hard to tell from this year's group of "talent"

” -- kinglywarrior