Enter our $1,000 Fantasy Contest

$1,000 Fantasy Hoops Contest

Our friends at FanDuel have created a one day tournament for Sheridan Hoops readers. There’s $1,000 in prize money! It’s on October 31, limited to 555 teams.

There’s a $2 entry fee per team, but each owner can enter up to five teams. The top 61 finishers win a cash prize; first place earns $200, second $125, third $100 on down to $4 (double your investment) for 61st place.

For FanDuel members or anyone ready to deposit a minimum of $10 via PayPal or credit card (you’ll get $5 in bonus play) here’s the link to enter the Sheridan Hoops Opening Day $1,000 Fantasy Basketball Tournament.

If you need to know more, click the logo and join FanDuel for free. Read the rules, join a free NFL or MLB league and find out how simple — yet challenging — daily leagues are.

How to Play

Each team has a $60,000 salary cap. Pick the best possible team of nine players who will compete in NBA games on October 31. It is a one-day league; stats count for that night only. Positions are PG, PG, SG, SG, SF, SF, PF, PF, C. The scoring categories are PTS = 1pt, REB = 1pt, AST = 1pt, BLK = 2pts, STL = 2pts, TO = -1pt.

On Oct. 31, Dwight Howard — whose missed free throws don’t matter — costs $9,000, with the next eight highest salaries between $8,100 and $8,500.

Even the worst players, with no chance of entering the game, have a $3,000 salary and there aren’t many bargains below the $4,500 range. So when you do use a very expensive player, you need to find an inexpensive one who will produce.

My team will change, right up to the 7:00 pm deadline when everyone’s roster is locked in. For now, the lineup is players whose salaries seem most reasonable:

PG Ty Lawson $7,300
PG Tony Parker $7,100
SG Paul George $6,200
SG Evan Turner $6,100
SF Andre Iguodala $6,900
SF Nicolas Batum $6,300
PF LaMarcus Aldridge $8,200
PF Donatas Motiejunas $3,000
C Andrew Bynum $8,100

My picks consider opponent, home-vs.-road, schedule and whether or not I expect a player to be in prime form that early in the season. There are countless possible variations.

One of my favorite sleepers in Roto and Head-to-Head leagues, Donatas Motiejunas could be a great play with his $3,000 salary. If I’m wrong, and he hasn’t secured a major rotation spot by then, I’d switch to Patrick Patterson ($5,200) in that roster spot and have to “downgrade” at other positions to stay within the cap.

In addition to cash, you can win valuable bragging rights for beating your friends, me, or Chris Sheridan. Hope to see you there!

Monday’s Games

UTA @ GSW: I did not expect a repeat from the Warriors after they beat the Lakers in L.A. the previous night. With Andrew Bogut (ankle) still recovering, rookie Festus Ezeli had another good game (only 6 PTS, but 7 REB and 4 BLK) and David Lee is still a double-double machine (19 & 14) — the only other big man who got more than five minutes was Carl Landry. In just 11:33, Stephen Curry dished out six assists; Charles Jenkins and Jarrett Jack split the remaining PG duties. At SF, it looks like Brandon Rush starts, Harrison Barnes is the #1 sub and Richard Jefferson is fading into the sunset of a fine career.

For the Jazz, Mo Williams to Marvin Williams is a good-looking new play. Paul Millsap (20:36) started and Derrick Favors (22:28) came off the bench; if it’s a true timeshare, Millsap’s fantasy owners will not be happy. Al Jefferson was not the least bit inspired, but his sub Enes Kanter looks great (sometimes those “best shape of his life” stories have merit) and played very well: 12 PTS, 11 REB, 2 BLK.

RMA @ TOR: Real Madrid is a very good basketball team, with NBA veterans Rudy Fernandez and Sergio Rodriguez, plus the creative Sergio Llull and promising big man Nikola Mirotic, who should join the Chicago Bulls before too long. In “midseason” form, they gave Toronto a heckuva battle. Kyle Lowry will be out for at least a week with an adductor muscle (inner thigh) injury, so Jose Calderon started against his fellow Spaniards and John Lucas excited the small crowd with 16 points in 20 minutes off the bench.

Amir Johnson looks terrific. He played through a wide variety of unreported injuries last year, including a chronically-sore foot, and had an off-court personal issue that he admits affected his play. Ed Davis could be in trouble for minutes when Jonas Valanciunas (calf) is ready. DeMar DeRozan had 18 PTS and his backup SG, rookie Terrence Ross played well at both ends of the court.

MPS @ CLE: After getting thumped in San Antonio, Montepeschi Siena  faced an easier assignment in Ohio. The Cavs were a bit rusty — Kyrie Irving was 1-7 from the floor — and no starter played 22 minutes, but they prevailed. C.J. Miles started at SG; rookie Dion Waiters scored 11 PTS in 15:25 off the bench. Tristan Thompson is the starting PF but Samardo Samuels saw 28:00 as a backup.  Rookie Tyler Zeller played more minutes than Anderson Varejao, but that will change when the games count.

Tuesday’s Games

DAL @ FCB: The Mavericks are in Spain to play FCBarcelona Regal. These overseas tours are wonderful for the international growth of basketball, but don’t matter much to fantasy owners. If anything, it delays our impressions of the new-look Dallas team until they return and recover from jet lag. I’m very high on the backcourt of Darren Collison and O.J. Mayo and will be happy to own Chris Kaman. Still not sure how Brandan Wright will be used — backup C is my guess — or if his strained quad will let him play today.

MIL @ CLE: Not that the scores of exhibition games matter in the slightest, but we do try to handicap them before singling out players to watch. Cleveland had to dig deep last night to win, and Milwaukee is eager to get started.

One of my deep sleepers, Tobias Harris may be the starting SF this year. He and rookie John Henson were brilliant in the summer league. Samuel Dalembert is the other new Buck to consider; you may as well know that I’m biased against him. It’s a combination of him deserting the Canadian national team and being burned by his inconsistency (bordering on apathy) in previous fantasy seasons.

MEM @ CHI: My prediction is that Kirk Hinrich will see the vast majority of PG minutes until Derrick Rose returns, then become a super-sub. In the meantime, rookie Marquis Teague and gunner Nate Robinson are battling for backup minutes. Richard Hamilton is the nominal starter at SG, but if Rip can’t stay healthy, Marco Belinelli is excellent insurance. It’s the usual cast up front: Luol Deng, Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah, capably supported by Taj Gibson. The backup C position is up for grabs, but insignificant; sophomore Jimmy Butler could carve out a limited role behind Deng.

Some NBA teams are more “set” than others at this early stage and the Grizzlies are carved in stone. No position battles, now that Darrell Arthur has a leg fracture and can’t challenge Marreese Speights for a backup role. The only significant new face is Jerryd Bayless, a combo guard who can back up both spots. Biggest question is whether Zach Randolph will fully regain his former dominance after last year’s knee injury, but he looked almost 100% in the playoffs.

CHA @ NOH: Hornets rookie Anthony Davis is already their marquee name and the Bobcats have a great deal riding on Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. That matchup of the #1 and #2 overall picks from last year’s draft  makes this contest a bit more interesting. We’re also watching how Ryan Anderson is used (he came off the bench in Mexico) and the latest injury to Eric Gordon (knee) has given Austin Rivers an opportunity for big minutes. Backup PG behind Greivis Vasquez is a tossup between Roger Mason Jr. and little-known Brian Roberts.

Charlotte is going with Kemba Walker as the starting PG and Ramon Sessions off the bench. We don’t know yet how quick the hook will be from a new coaching staff. Gerald Henderson starts at SG, with Ben Gordon providing a scoring threat off the bench. Bismack Biyombo was forced to play a lot last year but may now be a backup, as Brendan Haywood mans C and Byron Mullens is the PF. Mullens was allowed (or encouraged) to launch seven shots from downtown (hitting three) in their first preseason game and if that trend continues, bump him up your draft lists.

Now that we have games to discuss, the Spin will be spun every morning at 9:00 and you can follow us on Twitter — @SheridanFantasy — for updates.