If you’re like me, the biggest fantasy drafts of the year are coming up. Our 20-team Head-to-Head keeper league is full of sharks like Jeff Nichols.
Preparing for a deep, competitive H2H Roto or Points league draft or auction gives us veterans an advantage in DFS. The daily effort we put into managing rosters in a season-long league and scouring the waiver wire absolutely helps in selecting lineups at DraftKings.
In real life, baseball is far from over. I was thrilled to be in the deafening Dome yesterday as Marco Estrada and the Blue Jays sent the ALCS back to Kansas City. Congratulations to the Mets, whose sweep of the Cubs sets them up perfectly for the World Series.
In the parallel world of DFS, there will be no more MLB contests until 2016. Today, the Spin switches seamlessly (get it?) from hardball to hoops. There are contests on tonight’s slate of five NBA exhibition games, but the big events on October 27 — opening night of the regular season — are more interesting.
Plays of the Day
The $300K Tip-Off Special is a $3 buy-in (FREE to new depositors at DK) that pays the top 24,000 finishers from up to 115,000 teams. First place wins $50,000. Enter now and you can make unlimited lineup changes until 8:00 Eastern on Tuesday.
Odds are even better in the $200K Crossover, a $27 buy-in where the top 1,850 of a maximum 8,450 teams share the guaranteed prize pool. Highest score wins $20,000. For high-rollers, there’s a 50-team contest (entry fee $1,060) and a 463-team tournament ($300 buy-in) with a $20,000 top prize. That’s where the real sharks hang out.
You can compete for as little as a quarter, or in free leagues. Play for various stakes ($1, $2, $3, $5, $10…) in up to 50 Beginner contests if you’re new to the NBA format at DK.
The game is simple. Each player is assigned a salary. Pick an 8-man lineup — PG, SG, SF, PF, C, G, F, UTIL — within the $50,000 cap and score the most points:
Point = +1 PT
Made 3pt. shot = +0.5 PTs
Rebound = +1.25 PTs
Assist = +1.5 PTs
Steal = +2 PTs
Block = +2 PTs
Turnover = -0.5 PTs
Double-Double = +1.5PTs
Triple-Double = +3PTs
It’s only a 3-game slate on the 27th. The player pool and the prize money will be much larger next Wednesday. Handicapping for me always begins with matchups.
New Orleans at Golden State is the headliner. Assuming a high-scoring game, Anthony Davis $10400 and Stephen Curry $9500 are affordably priced, with Draymond Green $6900, Klay Thompson $7200, Harrison Barnes $4600 and Andre Iguodala $4300 all solid value. For the banged-up Pelicans, Dante Cunningham $3000 and Nate Robinson $3000 might get extra minutes at a rock-bottom cost.
Cleveland at Chicago might look different this year, with new Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg spreading the floor. Jimmy Butler $7600 is the new #1 option, even when Derrick Rose $6500 is fully healthy, and Nikola Mirotic $6400 is a breakout candidate. LeBron James $9800 is not expected to play as many minutes this season to keep him fresher for the playoffs. Due to a rash of injuries, lesser Cavaliers like Mo Williams $4900 and Anderson Varejao $3400 could play significant roles.
While Detroit and Atlanta may not run up the highest score, the Pistons are extremely cheap except for Andre Drummond $8200. Roles aren’t quite defined yet, but Ersan Ilyasova $5700, Marcus Morris $4500 and Reggie Jackson $7800 are worth considering. The safer plays are on the home team, which got off to a sizzling start last season: Jeff Teague $7000, Al Horford $7300 and Paul Millsap $7700, with temporary starter Kent Bazemore $3000 a potential bargain play.
Here’s my early Short List, narrowing down a “top 15″ in various price brackets. Players in bold are in a sample lineup (above left) that hits the cap on the button. Over the next few days I’ll fine-tune some alternate lineups and discuss strategy.
Pos
Premium
Midrange
Bargain
PG
Stephen Curry $9500
Jeff Teague $7000
Mo Williams $4900
SG
Jimmy Butler $7600
Klay Thompson $7200
Kent Bazemore $3000
SF
LeBron James $9800
Andre Igoudala $4300
D. Cunningham $3000
PF
Anthony Davis $10400
Draymond Green $6900
Ryan Anderson $5000
C
Andre Drummond $8200
Al Horford $7300
Anderson Varejao $3400
The Fantasy Spin features DFS advice every day of the NBA season. Follow Kent Williams @SheridanFantasy for updates.