DraftStreet Fantasy Spin, May 1, 2014: Who Wants a Phil Jackson T-Shirt?

I bring good news to you today, both for myself and for y’all.

First, y’all.

You see that Phil Jackson t-shirt to your right, patterned after the Obama “Hope” campaign? It can be yours if you sign up for tonight’s fantasy contests and make a deposit. You’ll be wearing it next week — just in time for Steve Kerr’s hiring. And if you follow my advice closely, you might just win some cash. So click on the DraftStreet banner to sign up.

Last night, on Day 10 of my temporary fantasy writer career, I finished in first place in a 480-entrant field that had an $5 entry fee. The Sheridan family grocery budget has increased by $480.

How did I do it?

The truth is that is has been a trial-and-error period for me, and the one thing I have learned most is that if you have a strong hunch, make sure you have a strong hedge (as I wrote yesterday while predicting great things). The team that won the tournament was built as a hedge against my belief that the Clippers would be mental wrecks on Tuesday because of the Donald Sterling controversy. I made that statement before Adam Silver dropped the hammer, and I hedged my prediction by choosing a team with plenty of Clippers on it, just in case.

As you can see, it was a wise move …

Here is how the team looked from a player-by-player perspective …

The guy who got me the money was Mirza Teletovic, who was a plus-31 in his limited minutes as the Nets stormed back with a 44-point fourth quarter only to fall short against the Raptors. Something tells me Jason Kidd will lean a little harder on Teletovic on Friday night, when he will again be available at a bargain basement price.

I tend to operate on the studs and duds theory of fantasy hoops, and I also did well with the low-priced Boris Diaw, whose six assists helped vault me into first place.

For the uninitiated, here are the DraftStreet salary cap league rules:

You pick three guards, three forwards, one center and one utility player using a salary cap of $100,000, and then you root for them to fill up the box score. You can sign up here, or by clicking the banner at the top of this post.)

Steals and blocks are worth 2 points. Rebounds are worth 1.25 points. Assists are worth 1.5 points. You lose 1 point for every turnover, and you lose 0.5 points for every missed field goal attempt or missed free throw attempt.

On my winning team, I had 15 steals, which helped put me atop the leaderboard. I also had three players with ridiculously cheap salaries — Teletovic, Boris Diaw and Tayshaun Prince.

I will play all three of those guys on one of my Thursday-Friday and Friday-Saturday teams, hoping lightning strikes twice. But here is the thing … Diaw is spending a lot of time guarding Dirk Nowitzki, so he will produce numbers without ever having a single play called for him. Teletovic is a gamer, and his 3-point barrages are exactly what the Nets need. And Prince, who looks like a candidate for retirement 9 out of every 10 games, is still a starter on a Memphis Grizzlies team that is one win away from upsetting the second-seeded Thunder.

Yes, it can look easy at times … but it can be a slippery slope if you rely on too many duds. On one of my $11 entry fee teams for Wednesday-Thursday, I selected Patty Mills because of Tony Parker’s ankle injury, but Mills barely played while Parker was the star of the game. And my other $5 team in the Tuesday-Wednesday league included Beno Udrih, Samuel Dalember, Harrison Barnes and Mason Plumlee. It finished 424th out of 440.

This is the studs and duds $11 entry team that I have in play tonight, and I reckon I will need something from Prince to have a chance at the $600 first prize.

But as you can see, this team is loaded with potential, starting with Kevin Durant, who could go for 50 tonight as he tries to save his team’s season.

He was an extremely expensive pick, but one I could afford to make by choosing Ross and Prince.

Having the Splash Brothers doesn’t hurt, either, and if Andre Iguodala can stuff the stat sheet, we could have a back-to-back triumph.

That is why I am glad I selected two $11 teams rather than one.

What I am learning as I settle into this (temporary) gig is that multiple entries are the way to go.

So tonight, I will be putting that strategy to work by going with five $5 teams.

I will give you some insight into who I am picking, but I will not reveal all eight players, as I want to win as much as you do.

Here is a look at the studs and duds price list:

DraftStreet	Price
Stars	Over $19,000
LaMarcus Aldridge	$22,758
Kevin Durant	$21,549
Dwight Howard	$20,446
Paul George	$19,874
James Harden	$19,345
Value Plays	Under $9,000
Jeremy Lin	$8,840
Vince Carter	$7,977
Omer Asik	$7,419
Boris Diaw	$6,861
Mira Teletovic	$5,771

Interestingly, Blake Griffin has dropped out of the top five and can be had for $19,174.

Of the five guys listed, Aldridge looks tremendously overpriced given what he did in Game 5 (eight points, eight rebounds). Just my opinion, but there is a heck of a lot more value to be had in drafting the player who is defending him, Omer Asik ($7,419), who had 10 points and a game-high 15 rebounds as Houston kept its season alive.

As I mentioned above, Durant seems as though he will be worth the money.

The other four listed in the stars category? I will be staying away. Too much value to be had at cheaper prices.

Coming off their strong Game 5s, both Carter and Teletovic have seen a bump in their prices.

Still, if both can produce the way they produced Wednesday night, they fall into the category of “must-draft” players. They give you the flexibility to go after someone like Durant.

Coaches Jason Kidd and Rick Carlisle will do whatever it takes to keep their seasons alive, and if they find a player with a hot hand, they’ll stick with him longer than they would in a non-elimination game.

Frank Vogel faces the same quandary tonight as the Pacers try to keep their season alive, but I have given up on trying to figure out what he will do, and I am staying away from Roy Hibbert and Luis Scola, both of whom have been disappointments throughout the series (with the exception of Scola’s Game 4).

Kevin McHale must do the same with the Rockets, but we have already seen who he will rely on. That makes Asik probably the biggest value player on the board. My advice: Draft him … and then watch the points pile up.

Another update, and more advice, will be coming your way tomorrow.

So again, here is the link to register, and anyone who registers and deposits will get one of those too cool Phil Jackson t-shirts shipped to their front door. Good luck.

Chris Sheridan is publisher and editor-in-chief of SheridanHoops.com. He is acting as the site’s fill-in fantasy writer during the 2014 NBA playoffs.