It’s great to be back on the basketball beat. The start of a new season in any sport is one of the best times to play Daily Fantasy Sports. If you were following my MLB picks at DraftKings all summer, hope you made even more money than I did.
In yesterday’s Spin, I outlined the basics of DFS basketball (8-man roster, 1-day points league, $50K salary cap) and picked a sample lineup. 24 hours later, there’s new information that affects all types of fantasy hoops.
Tristan Thompson $4600 finally ended his holdout. If he went undrafted in your Roto, H2H or Points league, he’s an OREB machine worth picking up. If you haven’t drafted yet, bump him up. In daily play, my bargain C selection Anderson Varejao $3400 loses value, so we’ll tweak the sample lineup and Short List.
For you traditionalists who have still never tried it, DFS doesn’t replace our keeper leagues or the season-long format — they are actually compatible. All that homework you’ve done for snake drafts and auctions can be turned into profit. In our Draft Prep series, Jeff Nichols has been identifying players (and teams) to target or avoid in “standard” and “deep” leagues.
It turns out that many of his sleepers — who also happen to be on my radar — are underpriced on Opening Night and might be for the first couple of weeks. I’ll mention a few here by position.
Plays of the Day
The $300K Tip-Off Special is a $3 buy-in (FREE to new depositors at DK) that pays the top 24,000 finishers from up to 115,000 teams. First place wins $50,000. Enter now and you can make unlimited lineup changes until 8:00 Eastern on Tuesday.
Odds are even better in the $200K Crossover, a $27 buy-in where the top 1,850 of a maximum 8,450 teams share the guaranteed prize pool. Highest score wins $20,000.
At PG, Stephen Curry $9500 is in his own tier. Remember, there are only three games, so it’s like a six-team NBA. The second tier of Reggie Jackson $7800 and Jeff Teague $7000 face each other. Because of injuries to starters, Mo Williams $4900 is a medium-priced value play and Nate Robinson $3000 has upside at the rock-bottom salary.
SG is a two-man top tier. Both Jimmy Butler $7600 and Klay Thompson $7200 are worth owning; I’m leaning to Butler. There’s a choice of Eric Gordon $5200, Kyle Korver $4900 and J.R. Smith in the midrange. “Stars and scrubs” is one approach to building a winning lineup; a cheap starter like Kent Bazemore $3000 allows you to afford a higher-priced stud at another position.
The #1 SF is LeBron James $9800 and it’s an extreme dropoff to the others. Given that LBJ and coach David Blatt have both said that the King’s minutes will be reduced this year, he’s not an automatic start. However, you’re almost punting that positionif you use anyone else. Marcus Morris $4500 and rookie Stanley Johnson $4700 may be in a timeshare, and it’s never easy to guess which of Harrison Barnes $4600 and Andre Iguodala $4300 will be hot on a given night. The stealth plays are Pelicans starter Dante Cunningham $3000 and Bulls backup Doug McDermott $3000.
Anthony Davis $10400 dominates the loaded PF spot, with Pau Gasol $8000 and Nikola Mirotic $6400 both not C-eligible. Paul Millsap $7700 and Draymond Green $6900 are excellent value. It’s guaranteed that I will use a second PF at F, and possibly a third at Util. Ersan Ilyasova $5700 and Ryan Anderson $5000 are in better shape than Thompson.
At C, Andre Drummond $8200 vs. Al Horford $7300 is the key. In a battle of contrasting styles, either (or both) could get off to a fast start. Because Joakim Noah $6000 is now a backup and Andrew Bogut $5000 will be wearing a mask to protect his broken nose, “punting” with Varejao is still an option.
Here’s my revised Short List. It’s the same 15 as yesterday, when I used Andre Iguodala $4300 and Draymond Green $6900 in the middle price range. To afford Drummond in this version, I had to cut back there and use more “scrubs.”
Names in bold are in today’s sample lineup (above left) that is $300 under the cap. Don’t fall for the temptation to use all $50K, especially in smaller player pools. Tomorrow we’ll discuss stacking — loading up with guys from one game, or one team.
| Pos | Premium | Midrange | Bargain |
| PG | Stephen Curry $9500 | Jeff Teague $7000 | Nate Robinson $3000 |
| SG | Jimmy Butler $7600 | Klay Thompson $7200 | Kent Bazemore $3000 |
| SF | LeBron James $9800 | Andre Igoudala $4300 | D. Cunningham $3000 |
| PF | Anthony Davis $10400 | Draymond Green $6900 | Ryan Anderson $5000 |
| C | Andre Drummond $8200 | Al Horford $7300 | Anderson Varejao $3400 |
The Fantasy Spin features DFS advice every day of the NBA season. Follow Kent Williams @SheridanFantasy for updates.