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I lost a fantasy writer over the weekend, so I am taking over this column temporarily .. and we’re going to have some fun with it.
The aim in fantasy basketball is to win money. I don’t care if you play in a season-long league in which you hold a draft or an auction, or if you play in daily leagues, like the ones we sponsor through DraftStreet. We are all trying to cash. (I love using “cash” as a verb.)
For those who are new to this, I plan to make it easy for you. For those who have been doing this already, I will offer my insight.
I warn you to take it with a grain of salt.
Unfortunately, I did not do well in the $55 entry monster tournament held Saturday and Sunday.
When you draft DeMar DeRozan on the day he decides to play his worst game of the season, the only good thing is that the suspense is lifted early. Out of the 1,700-plus players, only 300 or so finished behind me.
But I am doing quite well in a $2 entry, Sunday-Monday two-day tournament in which I have the foresight to select LaMarcus Aldridge, who had the best individual line of the postseason with 46 points and 18 rebounds in the Blazers’ overtime victory over Houston.
As you can see, only one of my high-priced players was in action on Sunday, and I have five players in the mix tonight — including fantasy beasts Chris Paul and Serge Ibaka. Marc Gasol can be somewhat hit or miss, and my fortunes will probably rest upon the outings of Harrison Barnes and Courtney Lee. I reckon it will take 275 points to finish in first place and win the $320 first prize.
For the uninitiated, here’s how daily fantasy leagues work.
You pick three guards, three forwards, one center and one utility player using a salary cap of $100,000, and then you root for them to fill up the box score. You can sign up here, or by clicking the banner at the top of this post.
Steals and blocks are worth 2 points. Rebounds are worth 1.25 points. Assists are worth 1.5 points. You lose 1 point for every turnover, and you lose 0.5 points for every missed field goal attempt or missed free throw attempt.
Now that we are in the playoffs, the leagues last two nights.
Here are some of the players I have my eye on for the next two days (For Monday-Tuesday, I am entering an $11 entry fee league with prizes of $1,000 for first place, $700 for second, $500 for third, all the way to $20 for 41st through 50th. The league is limited to 500 entrants):
| DraftStreet | Mar. 210 |
| Stars | Over $15,000 |
| Kevin Durant | $21,584 |
| Chris Paul | $19,321 |
| Joakim Noah | $19,261 |
| Stephen Curry | $18,568 |
| Blake Griffin | $18,515 |
| Value Plays | Under $9,000 |
| Kyle Korver | $8,940 |
| Kirk Hinrich | $8,844 |
| George Hill | $7,248 |
| Roy Hibbert | $7,074 |
| Amir Johnson | $6,225 |
If you are going by the studs and duds theory, which only works if you nail the low-priced guys, the player to build around is Griffin, who was taken out of Game 1 by foul trouble and should be poised for a huge bounce-back game.
By building around Griffin instead of Durant, you will have an extra $3,000 to work with.
Among the value plays listed below, there are a couple of major risks. The first is Roy Hibbert, whose disappearing act continues to amaze. The Hawks are pulling him away from the basket by forcing him to guard Pro Antic on the perimeter, which takes away from his shot blocking prowess and his rebounding opportunities.
Still, Hibbert should be able to do a lot more on the offensive glass, and it is safe to say he is due for a breakout game (that has been the case for weeks now). Let’s not forget that he was an All-Star, and it doesn’t hurt that he is a prideful player who is embarrassed by what has been happening.
So picking Hibbert is a risk, but you are going to have to take risks on one or two low-priced players no matter what.
Amir Johnson is an especially tantalizing play, as he had an unproductive Game 1 against Brooklyn with just two points and three rebounds in 21 minutes. If he can be as active on the boards as Jonas Valanciunas was in the opening quarter of Game 1, coach Dwane Casey will use him because he gives the Raptors a size advantage at the power forward position, where the Nets are starting Paul Pierce.
Another item I like to check before selecting a team is the over/under for points. The folks who set those lines are pretty sharp, and it is easier to pile up DraftStreet points in a high-scoring affair than it is when the games are played in the 70s and 80s, which the Bulls and Pacers have the capacity to do on any given night. The Grizzlies also play relatively low-scoring games in the Western Conference, so approach them with caution.
For Monday-Tuesday leagues, there are no Blazers or Rockets available because that series does not resume until Wednesday.
The Warriors-Clippers over/under is 212, and the four other games to be played tonight and tomorrow have over/unders of less than 190.
Andre Iguodala is an especially enticing play at $9,651 after foul trouble (he had four in the first half Saturday) limited him in Game 1. Klay Thompson looks like a good buy at $11,537. For the Clippers, there is the question of whether J.J. Redick will be as productive in Game 2 as he was in Game 1 (22 points, 8-for-11, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal). His price is $9,758, and I am going to steer clear because I am not used to seeing him have consecutive big nights. DeAndre Jordan is $16,968, which is a lot of money to risk — but potentially worth it is he can dominate the interior with Andrew Bogut not playing.
I’ll be back tomorrow with an update, and further advice for the Tuesday-Wednesday leagues. Again, to join DraftStreet and play in these two-night NBA fantasy contests, click here. DS also offers fantasy baseball and fantasy golf.