The biggest individual DraftStreet NBA contest since Christmas Day is just eight days away. The winner of the NBA Big Score will win $50,000 out of a total prize pool of $150,000, with the top 400 finishers winning at least $100. All it takes to enter is a DraftStreet account and $55. Meanwhile, this week’s Wednesday 50K is open for registration: you can find it in the NBA salary cap lobby at the top of the list. If you don’t have a DraftStreet account, you can sign up using this link. Tonight’s light schedule of five games is right in the skilled daily fantasy player’s wheelhouse (plenty of options with less variance). Here is today’s Fantasy Spin.
What’s Happening at DraftStreet
There are some juicy GPPs tonight and plenty of qualifiers for the big events coming up:
Salary Cap: $22/$10,000, $5/$4,000, $2/$5,000, $109/$8,000.
50K satellites (for Wednesday): four, ranging from $1 to $11 buy in; 150K satellites (for March 26 main event): four, ranging from $1 to $11 buy in.
Pick’em: $11/$2,500, $2/$1,000, two other GPPs.
Tomorrow: $22/$50,000 (2,500 max, $10,000 for first place)
Remember to register at least 10 minutes before the roster deadline. Tuesday’s contests start at 7 PM EDT.
My Lineup at DraftStreet
The following is my recommended lineup, subject to change, for the $5/$4,000 Standard Payout GPP at DraftStreet (closing at 7:00 pm EDT). You are required to have three guards, three forwards, one center and one wildcard/utility player for a legal eight-player lineup in DraftStreet Salary Cap NBA contests:
G-John Wall/WAS-$17,730, F-Nicolas Batum/POR-$17,127, G-DeMar DeRozan/TOR-$13,824, F-Trevor Ariza/WAS-$12,682, C-Robin Lopez/POR-$12,662, F-Dorell Wright/POR-$9,343, G-Terrence Ross/TOR-$8,715, G-Mo Williams/POR-$7,404
This team is weighted towards high risk/high reward players. The two Wizards and Ross/TOR are capable of providing superb value, but are not among the more consistent players in the league. Of the four Trail Blazers, Batum/POR is the most reliable because he contributes in multiple categories (but also expensive), while Williams/POR is capable of getting extra minutes off the bench if he starts out well.
Wounded Cavaliers Host Champs
Miami Heat at Cleveland Cavaliers (7:00 pm EDT); over/under 196; Heat -10. . INJURIES: MIA: Dwayne Wade (P); CLE: C.J. Miles (P), Luol Deng (Q), Matt Dellavedova (Q), Kyrie Irving (OUT).
Who will fill Irving’s/CLE minutes? Jarret Jack/CLE, Dion Waiters/CLE, and Miles/CLE will each get an extra burden, making them all decent value plays. Wade/MIA has back-to-back games scheduled and may sit tonight, with Erik Spoelstra counting on the weakened Cleveland squad being easier to handle than the Celtics.
Toronto Raptors at Atlanta Hawks* (7:30 pm EDT); over/under 200; Raptors -3. . INJURIES: TOR: Patrick Patterson (OUT); ATL: none .
The Hawks are the only team in action that played last night. They earned an impressive win over the Bobcats, but must now contend with a rested and fundamentally sound Raptors team. I’m a little concerned about Kyle Lowry/TOR, who may be suffering after effects from a collision: he’s expensive and should be avoided tonight. I prefer DeMar DeRozan/TOR, as I believe he will be heavily involved in Toronto’s offensive schemes tonight.
Milwaukee Bucks at Portland Trail Blazers (10:00 pm EDT); over/under 208; Blazers -13. . INJURIES: MIL: Ersan Ilyasova (P), Larry Sanders (OUT); POR: LaMarcus Aldridge (OUT).
Dorell Wright/POR continues to fill in for Aldridge/POR and he remains a solid value play. I’ve invested in Trail Blazers today, hoping that the Bucks can keep the game relatively close.
Washington Wizards at Sacramento Kings (10:00 pm EDT); over/under 202; Wizards -1.5. . INJURIES: WAS: Nene Hilario (OUT); SAC: DeMarcus Cousins (P).
When shooting for the big prizes, Trevor Ariza/WAS and John Wall/WAS are two of my favorites. Both are capable of monster games and this is a good matchup for them.
Orlando Magic at Golden State Warriors (10:30 pm EDT); over/under 202.5; Warriors 13. . INJURIES: ORL: Nikola Vucevic (P); GSW: none.
With Klay Thompson/GSW back and Stephen Curry/GSW (almost) healthy, the Warriors are very close to being playoff ready. David Lee/GSW hasn’t been as involved in the offense as he was and Golden State will try to fix that. Lee is a superb speculative play now that his salary has fallen below $14K at DraftStreet.
Yesterday’s News
TOP GUNS:
Kevin Durant/OKC. No surprise. The return of Russell Westbrook/OKC and the extra rest Durant had the night before resulted in another 50+ DraftStreet point game.
Terrence Jones/HOU. With Dwight Howard/HOU out and James Harden/HOU struggling, the supporting cast, led by Jones, picked things up for the Rockets.
Blake Griffin/LAC, Joakim Noah/CHI, Kenneth Faried/DEN, Deron Williams/BKN.
SLEEPERS:
Hollis Thompson/PHI. The main beneficiary of James Anderson’s/PHI absence.
Joe Johnson/BKN. A streaky shooter par excellence.
Jeremy Lin/HOU, Patrick Beverley/HOU, Mason Plumless/BKN.
LET DOWNS:
James Harden/HOU. Difficult to say why it happened, so I’ll chalk it up as a one off.
P.J. Tucker/PNX. With Eric Bledsoe/PNX back and Gerald Green/PNX the preferred perimeter option, Tucker’s role has been reduced.
Brandon Bass/BOS, Goran Dragic/PNX.
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