Anyone who plays in Rotisserie leagues knows it’s a long six months and patience is required. Even the one-week mini-seasons of Head-to-Head leagues create matchups that ebb and flow. On DraftStreet, there’s a new opportunity every day to put your basketball knowledge to profitable use.
In my limited experience on the Street, some days just ‘feel’ better than others, for various reasons. Christmas Day was top-heavy with high-priced superstars and there were few bargains to be found, but Boxing Day (as we call Dec. 26 in Canada and many other countries) is all about quantity. There are 13 NBA games to choose from and over 300 players in the pool. That’s literally millions of possible 8-man combinations, and we could have included twice as many recommendations in each of the three price ranges on today’s chart.
My $100 weekly bankroll is down $6 after one day, and once again, family commitments take priority over fantasy hoops, so I won’t be joining too many leagues tonight. The ones I do enter will deliberately avoid some big name players who are playing their second game in as many nights. Carmelo Anthony shook off so many minor injuries to stay in yesterday’s game that his entire body will be sore, while I’m guessing LeBron James will do only what’s necessary in Charlotte. Kobe Bryant is the lone exception to this strategy; my teams are built around him and Kevin Love.
| DraftStreet 15 | Dec. 26 |
| Stars | Over $13,000 |
| David Lee | $19,506 |
| LeBron James | $21,405 |
| Kevin Love | $17,769 |
| Josh Smith | $14,466 |
| Kobe Bryant | $20,229 |
| Scrubs | Under $9,000 |
| Dion Waiters | $8,940 |
| Tyler Zeller | $8,906 |
| Hakim Warrick | $5,631 |
| Danny Green | $7,563 |
| Alan Anderson | $6,945 |
| Starters | $9,000 to $13,000 |
| David West | $12,699 |
| Andrei Kirilenko | $12,948 |
| Arron Afflalo | $11,387 |
| Kawhi Leonard | $10,339 |
| Gustavo Ayon | $10,062 |
All Wednesday games close at 7:00 EST; you can make unlimited changes to your lineup until then. Here’s one of the three versions I’ve entered, hoping that Hakim Warrick outperforms his low salary and the HOU @ MIN game goes into double overtime. Good luck!
F1 Kevin Love (MIN-F) $17,769
F2 Hakim Warrick (CHA-F) $5,631
G1 Kobe Bryant (LAL-G) $20,229
G2 Monta Ellis (MIL-G) $13,202
C1 Nikola Pekovic (MIN-C) $14,755
C2 Tyler Zeller (CLE-C) $8,906
U1 Alexey Shved (MIN-G) $10,085
U2 Bradley Beal (WAS-G) $9,042
We focus primarily on the Salary Cap game here, but you might also want to check out Pick ‘Em leagues, which are even easier to play, yet still fun and challenging. When there’s time, I enjoy Snake drafts — two, three or six people in a real, live draft room. 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 all the different formats and see which one(s) you like best. It’s only one click away.
Today’s Fantasy Spin previews all 13 games in more detail and we look back at what happened on Christmas Day, when the Bulls were blinded by the Rockets’ red glare.