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There is a fantasy player named “Flight63” who is waking up this morning $10,000 richer. He should send a thank you note to Marcin Gortat.
DraftStreet’s $40,000 Big Score tournament was held Tuesday and Wednesday, with a massive amount of prizes for those bold enough to risk a twenty and two singles.
Flight 63 won it with a lineup of Gortat, LeBron James, John Wall, David West, Jamal Crawford, Matt Barnes, Kevin Garnett and Reggie Jackson. That’s right, he did not have star of the night Russell Westbrook, who went for 38 points in Oklahoma City’s stunning comeback victory over the L.A. Clippers.
I entered three teams, one of which finished in the money — 145th, which was good for $60. My team was top heavy with LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Chris Paul, filled out with bargain basement players Jamal Crawford, Andray Blatche, Boris Diaw, Marco Belinelli and Al Harrington. It was Harrington who killed me, producing just 5.5 DraftStreet points. Too bad fouls are not a category, because Harrington had six of them in just 13 minutes.
I also cashed in two other contests, the $5 entry league and the $2 entry league, finishing 35th of 550 in the former and 11th out of 150 in the latter, collecting a combined $25. My entry in the $22 Wednesday-Thursday contest sits in 35th place out of 92 entrants, with LeBron James, Marco Belinelli and Will Barton playing tonight. But I made the mistake of relying on Roy Hibbert instead of going with Gortat — or even Steven Adams, who produced 18.5 DraftStreet points. Hibbert’s total? 10.5.
What are DraftStreet points?
For the uninitiated, here’s an explanation.
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 on the DraftStreet banner at the top of the page.
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.
It usually takes about 160-170 points to win, although Flight63 got his 10 grand with 253.75. Here is his team:
Interesting how Gortat can be nearly as productive as James, eh?
That is part of the fun of DraftStreet’s two-day contests, because it is easy to pick someone like LeBron, but it takes some luck and some skill to go after a guy like Gortat, who hadn’t produced bupkus in Games 3 and 4. Barnes was also a critical pick for this team, producing a DS score of 30. Only 3 percent of the 1,925 entrants selected him.
Today, there are $2, $5, $22 and $55 contests, and I will be sticking with the $22 variety because that’s where the money is — $500 to first place.
If you want a shot at $2,000, DraftStreet has a $22 PGA Tournament contest that is open until the first guys tee it up Thursday. They also offer fantasy baseball, and fantasy football when it is in-season.
But we are here to play fantasy basketball, so let’s have a look at today’s prices:
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| DraftStreet | Price |
| Stars | $$$ |
| Kevin Durant | $23,903 |
| Russell Westbrook | $22,194 |
| Chris Paul | $21,844 |
| LeBron James | $21,771 |
| Blake Griffin | $19,125 |
| Paul George | $18,807 |
| LaMarcus Aldridge | $17,715 |
| Value Plays? | Under $9,000 |
| Andray Blatche | $8,674 |
| Boris Diaw | $8,472 |
| Ray Allen | $8,427 |
| Mario Chalmers | $8,299 |
| Matt Barnes | $7,806 |
| Danny Green | $6,544 |
| Marco Belinelli | $5,924 |
| Steven Adams | $2,293 |
Not often do you see LeBron James priced lower than three other guys — especially when he is coming off a 49-point outing that showed everyone how hapless the Nets are in trying to stop him. I am grabbing him as the centerpiece of my team.
LaMarcus Aldridge’s price has dropped about $4,000 since the Spurs-Blazers series began, and rightfully so. No doubt he is due for a breakout game, but I am not taking the risk that it is going to happen in San Antonio.
I prefer to focus on the value plays, because that’s where these contests are usually won or lost.
Belinelli has been pretty solid for a bench guy on a team that goes 11 deep, and Matt Barnes had a very nice game last night — but can he put together two in a row?
Same question goes for Marcin Gortat. The Polish Hammer was waaaaay overdue before going 13-for-15 in Washington’s GAme 5 victory. Does he have another one of those?
Also, if we are talking about players who are overdue, we would be remiss to leave out Nene. The Brazilian has not yet played a good game in the Wizards-Pacers series, and I am going to draft him because I think he will do what Gortat just did — or something reasonably approximating it.
As for Westbrook and Durant, well, let’s just say that we know where OKC is getting its production from. But are those prices too high to build a team with balance? I’ll let you decide that one. The guy I am taking on the Thunder is Steven Adams, whose price is too low to resist.
Back tomorrow, hopefully with a happy update for myself instead of Flight 63.