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We close out the final week of March with just one afternoon simulated basketball contest. It’s between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors, which is a bit odd considering the last time these two teams played a meaningful game was the last time LeBron James was in a Cavs uniform. Here’s a link to enter the contest and be sure to check out the rules for simulated basketball before entering a lineup.
Captain’s Picks
We don’t have Stephen Curry or Klay Thompson to pick from, so there isn’t one stud that separates from the pack at Captain. With that said, I’d ditch paying up at Captain entirely. I really like two players on the Warriors with some upside: Marquese Chriss ($7,200) and Damion Lee ($9,900). Each has had games of 20+ points or a double-double. Lee at one point in the season was the go-to scorer for the Dubs when D’Angelo Russell was hurt and nobody else was left from all the injuries. Chriss runs the risk of hitting a box score from earlier in the season, but he did have four double-doubles in five games in March before the break. Working in either Chriss or Lee at Captain allows us to basically fit in whatever mid-range we want, along with getting 3-4 studs priced above $8K.
FLEX Options
I really like the idea of chasing upside in these simulated contests, so that’s exactly what we’re going to do when there’s nobody above the field by a wide margin. Collin Sexton ($7,400) is exactly that and he’s pretty affordable. Sexton offers a high ceiling given his box scores since 2020 came along. Sexton was also averaging over 30 points per game in March before the League shut down. That upside makes this price well worth it.
We may not need to pay down much more if we go with say Chris at Captain and Sexton in the UTIL spot. That would essentially free up enough salary elsewhere to fit in whatever build you like the most. Draymond Green ($5,400) has appeal in the similar vein as Sexton. Green has had a pretty disappointing season by his standards. That doesn’t mean he hasn’t posted games well above this price point. Dray isn’t scoring at all this season — mostly because Steph and Klay have been out — but it doesn’t matter when you look at his counting stats. At this price, all Green would need to do is spit out an 8-8-8 type of line and we’re golden. Again, the idea is throwing in risky plays for the most upside. The contest is GPP structure and there are likely to be a ton of entries, so differentiating somewhere is key.