Fantasy Basketball, the Adventure Begins

 

A couple of years ago I plunged into fantasy football with marginal success. This year I joined a fantasy basketball league for the first time. I’ve found it reinvigorated my flagging interest in the NBA and took my basketball focus away from the bungling of the Bulls franchise.

I joined a 10 team keeper league that had us bid on players. We had 200 dollars worth of monopoly money to bid on players. We have 15 man rosters and can play 10 men per day. Obviously talent comes into play, but so do things such as durability and load management. It made for some interesting bidding.

 James Harden went for $53 and LeBron James went for $52.   Ben  Simmons was a steal at $14. The guys I had my eyes on were Luka Donic and Nikola Jokic. Donic went for $71 and Jokic for $68. The guy bring the highest bid was Giannis Antekounmpo who went for $78. All that was too rich for my blood.

My two primary guys are Trae Young and Zion Williamson. I picked up Young for $50 and spent $40 for Williamson. I got some nice complimentary players in Rudy Gobert for $18 and De’Aron Fox for $14. Victor Oladipo was a $5 addition. Beyond that, my roster has largely been a revolving door.                                     

I lost my first week’s matchup against a team headed up by Russell Westbrook, LeBron James and Andre Drummond. Ben Simmons, Domantas Sabonis, Brandon Ingram and Nikola Vucevic also contributed to my demise. I’m kicking myself for not going harder for Andre Drummond who averaged 50 fantasy points per game against me.                              

Scouring the waiver wire has been a preoccupation for me and I think it’s done me some good. Luguentz Dort has been a nice pickup. He’s getting playing time and is even scoring some for the Thunder. Dort is averaging 38.0 fantasy points per game. I wish I had started with him originally. Another shooting guard I picked up is Alec Burks. Picking up Burks one of the few good things the Knicks have done in recent years.

A couple of shooting forwards I picked up include the Spurs Keldon Johnson and the Grizzles Kyle Anderson. With the injury to Ja Morant Anderson looks to handle more of the Grizzles scoring load.                                        

One guy that has been disappointing tome is John Wall. I’ve held on to him despite his not playing because I think he has a high upside once James Harden leaves Houston. I am getting impatient.

While I lost my first contest, I’m off to a good start in week two after making various tweaks. I hope it holds.