If you love fantasy hoops and are also a poker player, DraftKings has a truly great promotion starting on Friday. For a $27 buy-in, you can win a week-long trip to Las Vegas and a seat in the WSOP Main Event! Satellite contests begin tomorrow; reserve your entry today. There’s a $15,000 prize pool, with cash payouts for finishing second through 25th out of a maximum 630 teams. First place is worth $12,500 — the value of your $10K buy-in to the Main Event table, plus airfare, accommodation, a VIP party and more swag.
After a dozen NBA games on Big Wednesday, we have only four to consider tonight. DK has a wide variety of offerings at 8:00 ET and you can also play in Late contests at 10:00, spanning only the two interesting West coast games.
Plays of the Day
Open a new DK account and get a FREE entry for the $65K Layup — the top score earns $5,000 and 8,375 of 37,375 teams receive cash prizes. They will match your initial deposit 100% ($5 to $600) with bonus funds that convert to cash as you play.
The Fantasy Basketball World Championship has a million dollar first prize, to be awarded March 23. There are only 40 seats in the Final; finish first in a Qualifier to win a spot, including a 5-day VIP trip to Las Vegas (worth $55,000) plus $7,000 in cash, even for last place! Join a Super Satellite contest tonight for just $2.00 where you can get into an upcoming $20 Qualifier by finishing first or second among a mere 23 teams.
The $2.7 MILLION January Jam costs $100 per team, but you can win tickets in Satellite contests for $5, $2 or even a quarter. The $500,000 NBA Slam Dunk on January 28 has a top prize of $100,000.
Facing a back-to-back, without LaMarcus Aldridge (thumb), the shorthanded Trail Blazers will have to dig deep against the Celtics, who are well-rested, with nothing to play for and therefore nothing to lose. Last night Damian Lillard $9400 was off-target (2-10 from deep) in a tough road loss to the Suns. Nicolas Batum $5300 hit six triples for his best offensive game in ages (27 PTS, 10 REB, 5 AST) to make his DFS owners ecstatic. Wesley Matthews $5700 also contributed and Dorell Wright $3000 more than earned his rock-bottom salary in 35 minutes as an emergency starter. Boston is developing rookie Marcus Smart $4400 as the PG of the future and Jared Sullinger $6600 has more range than the remaining healthy bigs for Portland. So does Kelly Olynyk $4400, who frequently plays more minutes off the bench than starter Tyler Zeller $3200.
Back in my horse racing career, there was a distinct difference between each day’s “best bet” — which implies an overlay —and “most probable winner,” often at short odds. The Clippers are definitely in the latter category tonight; I don’t see how they can lose. But point spreads and salary caps make even the most dominant teams and players less than 100% profitable. Minutes and intensity for Chris Paul $9600, Blake Griffin $9800 and DeAndre Jordan $7800 depend on how well the Nets play in this back-to-back. Deron Williams (ribs) remains sidelined; Jarrett Jack $6200 has been effective in his absence but CP3 is a tough opponent at both ends of the court. Brook Lopez $6400 was the hero last night in Sacramento, coming off the bench to play 38 superb minutes — 22 points, six boards and a season-high six blocked shots. Joe Johnson $6000 shot 15-for 53 (28%) over his previous four, so his modest 6-15 was an improvement.
The Spurs won as expected in Denver on Tuesday, while the Bulls are trying to regroup from Monday’s loss, their fourth in five games. With Joakim Noah (ankle) and Mike Dunleavy $3800 (ankle) hurt — though nearing a return — Chicago is basically a three-man team. Derrick Rose $7300, Pau Gasol $9300 and Jimmy Butler $7900 are fairly similar to Tony Parker $5800, Tim Duncan $8300 and Kawhi Leonard $7800. However, San Antonio is about 12 deep, with a wide variety of looks depending on the game situation. Manu Ginobili $5200 can be a difference-maker off the bench. As always, if you pick the right bargain like Aron Baynes $3000 on the right evening, it can pay off. To me, this game is far more interesting in real life than fantasy.
The Jazz were much better in defeat last night than in that 69-point “effort” on Sunday. The Bucks are fresh, at home and smarting from a 3-point loss. Brandon Knight $7800 is their leader, Giannis Antetokounmpo $5200 is the lowest price he’s been in ages and Zaza Pachulia $5600 often pays his way. Masked man Ersan Ilyasova $3700 was sharp off the bench against Toronto and is expected to regain his starting job as a stretch four. Utah relies mainly on Derrick Favors $8000 and Gordon Hayward $7800; Trey Burke $5600 shot a disastrous 1-10 vs. Kyrie Irving and was benched early in the third quarter. Long term, I like Rudy Gobert $6300 more than Enes Kanter $5900, but the latter double-doubled (24 & 17) against the Cavs to guarantee he’ll start again.
| Pos | Premium | Midrange | Bargain |
| PG | Chris Paul $9600 | Brandon Knight $7800 | Marcus Smart $4400 |
| SG | Jimmy Butler $7900 | Wesley Matthews $5700 | Manu Ginobili $5200 |
| SF | Kawhi Leonard $7800 | Nicolas Batum $5300 | Dorell Wright $3000 |
| PF | Blake Griffin $9800 | Jared Sullinger $6600 | Ersan Ilyasova $3700 |
| C | DeAndre Jordan $7800 | Enes Kanter $5900 | Kelly Olynyk $4400 |
The Fantasy Spin features DFS advice every day of the NBA season. Follow Kent Williams @SheridanFantasy for updates.