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So my second week as a fantasy writer ended with a profit of more than $300. We build on that this week and finish with a four-figure withdrawal, correct?
Could have gotten there Sunday if not for my selection of Alan Anderson on one team and Tiago Splitter on another. Finished 51st and 78th out of 330 with lineups that included those “value picks” — a warning that value on one night (Game 6) does not necessarily transfer over as value on the second night (Game 7).
Things get easier this week with only eight teams remaining. All the contests remain two-night leagues, and the trick, as always, will be finding the right value pick in order to stock your team with studs.
And as was the case last week, we will send a free Phil Jackson/HOPE t-shirt to any new player who signs up and deposits with DraftStreet. You can do it by clicking on the banner at the top of this post.
The kid modeling the t-shirt in the photo to your right will give it to you off his back, quite literally.
Today’s strategy begins with drafting LeBron James, who has been idling for quite a while as that incredible first round of the playoffs played out. LeBron is going for $21,897 — exactly one dollar less than Kevin Durant. We all know that Durant is going to finish ahead of LeBron in the MVP race, but in fantasy for Day One of the new week I am going with the guy who has been getting plenty of rest.
I had three cashes last week, including a $480 win for first place in a $5 entry-fee contest. This week, I will again stick with multiple $5 entries — though I will upgrade to $11 or $22 if the fantasy basketball gods smile on me.
Let’s have a look at the prices for today and tomorrow.
| DraftStreet | Price |
| PLAYER | $$$ |
| Kevin Durant | $21,898 |
| LeBron James | $21,897 |
| LaMarcus Aldridge | $21,095 |
| Russell Westbrook | $19,679 |
| Paul George | $19,541 |
| Value Plays? | Under $9,000 |
| J.J. Redick | $8,697 |
| Boris Diaw | $7,823 |
| Kevin Garnett | $7,548 |
| Roy Hibbert | $6,976 |
| Ray Allen | $4,934 |
I will most certainly include both LeBron and Durant on one of my teams today, and I will be trolling the bargain basement for worthy inexpensive picks. I like Diaw, because I imagine Gregg Popovich is going to have him velcro himself to Aldridge in much the same manner as he did with Dirk Nowitzki in the opening round. Diaw produces fantasy points within the flow of the game without ever having a play called for him, but he will never have a monster breakout game the way his teammates Danny Green and Splitter will.
It is a roll of the dice trying to guess exactly when Splitter and/or Green will hit, so my advice is to stay away from both.
And what about Hibbert?
He was a terrific play Saturday after being milk carton material through the first six games. So what will be do against Marcin Gortat? Probably not as much as he did against Pero Antic, who is about as poor of an excuse for a starting center as I have ever seen in my quarter-century covering the Association.
But you have to pick a center, and if you are going to heed my advice and stay away from Hibbert and Splitter, where are you going to turn?
To Chris Bosh, that’s where. He is center-eligible in DraftStreet contests, and he, too, is coming off a week of rest that should make the Heat all the more fearsome in the second round. For Monday’s game, he is priced at $12,518, just a few bucks less than Robin Lopez and a few more than Splitter. I am going to key on him hard, just as I advised y’all to do with Tony Parker in Game 7 when I posted Saturday’s column.
Again, with a little more production out of Splitter or Anderson, I would have cashed twice. Have a look:
What really burns me up is that I made tremendous value picks on both squads. Garnett was an easy one to make, because you knew that guy was going to show up for a Game 7. It allowed me to select Parker, Chris Paul, Durant and Blake Griffin. On the second team, I struck gold with Green but did not do quite so well with DeJuan Blair.
For Game 1 in the second round of the playoffs, I am shying away from Parker at the start because Pop won’t need him to carry the team until the Spurs lose a game or two. But I will be keying on the Spurs-Blazers series, because it should be very high-scoring as both teams like to get out and push it.
For the uninitiated, here are the DraftStreet 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.
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.
And as a reward for making it to the bottom of this post, I will divulge five members of my team: LeBron James, Chris Paul, Chris Bosh, Joe Johnson, Nene Hilario. The other three are value picks — or so I should hope.
Good luck to all. And again, click on the banner at the top of this post to sign up.