BELGRADE - The cancellation of the first two weeks of games in the National Basketball League (NBA) has left Europe's Euroleague, albeit temporarily, as the world's top club competition promising an exciting season.

League owners and players in the NBA have been unable to resolve a labour dispute, meaning that the season will not start before Nov 14 and more games are under threat with a collective bargaining agreement still looking distant.

Europe's premier club competition, which starts on Monday with a curtain-raiser between six-times winners CSKA Moscow and Lithuanian team Zhalgiris Kaunas, has benefited as a result with some top contenders bolstering their ranks.

But Jordi Bertomeu, the Euroleague's Chief Executive Officer (CEO), warned the exodus of NBA players to Europe was only temporary as most of them have pledged to return when the lockout across the Atlantic ends.

"Teams that have decided to sign players knowing they are likely to leave understand the risks, both good and bad," Bertomeu told the Euroleague's official website (www.eurolague.net).

"The good one is that such a player will help win games while he's here, the bad one is that team chemistry will be difficult to maintain when a player leaves.

"But fans new and old can expect to see great basketball, first and foremost.

"The way our competition is structured, with almost no games that do not impact the standings in some way, the teams are playing for survival from the opening night."

The top four teams from each of the four preliminary pools of six will advance to the second stage, featuring four groups of four, where the top two teams from each group will qualify for the business end of the competition.

The knockout stage begins with best-of-five quarter-final series from which the winners advance to the Final Four, with this season's showpiece tournament set for Istanbul next May.