Fantasy basketball season is upon us, which for some of us is better than the basketball season itself. And on Oct. 29, DraftKings is conducting a contest you won’t want to miss — with a cool $100,000 going to the first-place finisher.
For those who are accustomed to the old school types of fantasy leagues, we implore you to give this a try.
You get to pick a new team every night. You can play every night. You get paid the following morning if you finish in the money. It is a better way to play fantasy.
Now, don’t get us wrong.
Nothing wrong with the old-school way, except for the fact that one injury to one of your highest-priced players can ruin a season-long investment. We could also mention league rivals who only want to make lopsided trades, the vagarities of drafts and auctions that often identify the likely first-place finisher by the time Thanksgiving arrives, and the dreadful wait to have your e-mails, texts, IMs and phone calls returned as you try to negotiate trades.
In daily fantasy sports, all of those headaches go away.
For the aforementioned contest (and all DraftKings fantasy basketball contests), the rules are straightforward and easy. You start with a $50,000 salary cap, and you choose eight players: One center, one point guard, one shooting guard, one small forward, one power forward, one extra guard, one extra forward and one utility player.
You accumulate points like this:
For every point your players score, you get a point. For every 3-point shot your players make, you get an extra half-point.Rebounds are worth 1.25 points, assists are worth 1.5 points, blocks and steals are worth 2 points, and you lose a half-point for every turnover. If your player records a double-double, you get an extra 1.5 points. If your player records a triple-double, you get an extra 3 points.
Easy.
For the Oct. 29 contest mentioned above with the $100,000 first prize (top 100 prizes are listed to your right, but you should note that the top 3,475 players get paid at least $40), the highest priced player is Russell Westbrook at $10,400. James Harden, Stephen Curry and DeMarcus Cousins are the only other players with five-figure salaries. The bargain bin is loaded with value picks, so shop around. There are 12 games being played that night.
My strategy involves picking productive players who are playing against bad defensive teams, so I will be looking especially hard at members of the Bulls (playing the Knicks) and the Suns (playing the Lakers).
Also, we should not ethat missed shots do not cost you any points (unlike the system at DraftStreet, which merged with DraftKings and dropped the penalty point system — good news for those of you who used to shy away from the likes of Dwight Howard because of all the shots he would miss).
I selected both Howard and Joakim Noah, looking for those triple-double and double-double bonus points. I took a chance on Kobe Bryant, too, because I think he is going to win the scoring title, and I think he’ll put up 30-plus against P.J. Tucker on the 29th. The rest of my picks will remain a secret, because I want that $100K, too.
To enter, click here.
On opening night next Tuesday, there are only three games. But there is a $10,000 first-prize contest that costs just $12 to enter. Click here to sign up for that one. I am already in the field.
Good luck.