I've been waiting to try an experiment for the site doing daily fantasy basketball and the first of the month seems to be a good time to try it. In my opinion, we've done a great job expanding our daily coverage with columns and projections. I decided I wanted to try something no one has done on this site or any others: give my lineup with a little rationale for the picks and specifically say how much money and what contests I'll be playing in. I don't think there's anyone else out there giving their specific lineup and showing how much money they're putting up.
First off, there are several great daily sites out there, just check under the "Daily" tab to find one. For the purposes of this column, I?m going to play on Draftkings.com. Here are a few reasons why and some things to know:
1. I play under the username "Kevinccp". You can track me and keep me honest if you feel you need to.
2. I like Draftkings because you can change your lineup right up until the time of the game for each player and it takes little time to enter multiple contests. This also means I might change something at the last second but I'll make sure I post any changes in the comments section below.
3. This will most likely be my longest blog as doing this every day could become time consuming. I'll do my best to post every day; just don't plan on it being along the lines of War and Peace.
4. I'm going to only post the lineup I will use in 50/50 (cash) games. I will probably play in other games and on occasion post whatever tournaments I play in and those lineups if they are different. I'm going to stick to low-wager, high entry 50/50 contests that should have a nice mix of newbies and "experts". Entering 50/50 contests only probably raises the floor but lowers the ceiling on how much profit you can turn.
5. I'm going to use a bankroll of $500. If my math is correct, I should be able to play four days without losing all of that. There are no guarantees here that I'll win and this could be over in a matter of days. However, I don't plan on that happening.
Tonight's stuff:
PGC.J. Watson, $3000 - Cheap and has starter's minutes. Anything above 20 FPs is a profit.
SGBrandon Knight, $6600 - I think he's undervalued, at home vs. a road-weary team.
SFJordan Hamilton, $3300 - Has played well with the Rockets over his two games and should see a boost in minutes with no Chandler Parsons tonight.
PFThaddeus Young, $7800 - His price has risen but plays a ton of minutes and is the primary scoring option who can fill the stat sheet.
CMarcin Gortat, $7000 - Coming off a career game, no Nene Hilario, and against a weak interior defense with a bunch of no-name players.
GAaron Brooks, $3900 - Low-priced and should see starter?s minutes. Hopefully he gets a handful of dimes.
FTrevor Ariza, $6600 - Went back and forth between him and Bradley Beal. Ariza has the better chance at a double-double and has better steal/block numbers.
UtilKevin Love, $11,200 - The over/under for points is 28.5 and rebounds is 13.5. Good luck Jason Thompson.
Thought about Dante Cunningham and Wil Bynum. But it appears Brandon Jennings will play and there had to be an odd man out for the punt.
I entered all the $10 and under big 50/50 contests (about $150 invested). Again, look for me at "Kevinccp' on Draftkings.com.
500-150=350.