Merry Christmas! For those of us celebrating the holiday with family and friends, basketball is not the main priority; it’s all about opening presents and overeating. If you’re simply enjoying a day off and glued to the TV for an 11-hour hoops marathon while rooting for your fantasy teams, why not try some daily-league action?
The superstars are out on the hardwood all day, making the player pool somewhat top-heavy. Your toughest decisions will be how many high-priced talents you can afford, and which ones. The chart offers five suggestions in three different price ranges; I could also have listed Russell Westbrook, Blake Griffin and Joakim Noah in the loaded ‘Over $13,000’ section. However, the ‘Under $9,000’ group is a little thin, making the Salary Cap puzzle even harder to solve than usual.
We begin with another $100 bankroll this week, and I’ve invested just $6 to enter three teams in the $1,500 Guaranteed Prize Pool tournament. The winner gets $300 and the top 75 finishers win at least $5 cash. You might also want to try a live Snake draft (or two) today, where only one team can own each player. I’ll be too busy cooking and rearranging furniture to take part in those, despite some recent success. Good luck!
| DraftStreet 15 | Dec. 25 |
| Stars | Over $13,000 |
| Carmelo Anthony | $17,299 |
| LeBron James | $21,650 |
| Kevin Durant | $22,279 |
| James Harden | $18,904 |
| Kobe Bryant | $20,229 |
| Scrubs | Under $9,000 |
| Keith Bogans | $4,531 |
| Marcus Morris | $7,927 |
| DeAndre Jordan | $8,892 |
| Marco Belinelli | $8,257 |
| Kirk Hinrich | $8,590 |
| Starters | $9,000 to $13,000 |
| Brook Lopez | $12,999 |
| Matt Barnes | $11,082 |
| Carlos Boozer | $12,214 |
| Joe Johnson | $11,900 |
| Jamal Crawford | $9,717 |
Most contests close at 12:00 EST and include all five NBA games. A few leagues close at 5:30 and are limited to just three games. These picks assume you’re in a noon league. Here’s one of the three lineups I’ve entered.
F1 Blake Griffin (LAC-F) $16,763
F2 Marcus Morris (HOU-F) $7,927
G1 Kobe Bryant (LAL-G) $20,229
G2 Andre Miller (DEN-G) $9,398
C1 Joakim Noah (CHI-C) $16,962
C2 Brook Lopez (BKN-C) $12,999
U1 Matt Barnes (LAC-F) $11,082
U2 Keith Bogans (BKN-G) $4,531
If you still haven’t joined DraftStreet, it’s free to open an account, no deposit or credit is required and you can enter free leagues to check out the Salary Cap, Snake and Pick’Em formats. Click here to get started.
Today’s Fantasy Spin previews each game in more detail.