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Fake Fake Basketball is back to kick off the week on DraftKings. It’s fantasy basketball based on a simulation, so it’s sort of like inception DFS for NBA. DraftKings has been running simulated fantasy basketball for a few days now and if you haven’t checked it out, here’s a link to today’s afternoon contest between the Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics. If you need a refresher on how these contests are conducted and scored, here’s the place to be. Now let’s get into some picks.
Captain’s Picks
There’s a lot to like about Ben Simmons in the Captain’s slot at $15,600. He had that stretch of games without Joel Embiid back in January when he was scoring 20+ point pretty consistently. So we could roll a box score that is essentially without Embiid on the court, though Embiid is in this contest. For the Celtics, this type of thinking can be applied to Jayson Tatum ($15,000), who has also thrived in spots when the Celts are banged up. Tatum also came out of the All-Star Break on fire and has been carrying Boston ever since.
If I had to go cherry picking in the bargain options for a Captain, Alec Burks ($7,200) has some appeal. Remember, this is picking a random box score from this season. Burks was previously on the Golden State Warriors, where he was the focus on the offense on some nights without D’Angelo Russell and Stephen Curry. Burks has a decent ceiling at this price point in the Captain if we’re lucky.
FLEX Options
Kemba Walker ($9,000) seems pretty underpriced for this contest for the Celtics. Walker has missed a handful of games due to nagging injuries throughout the season, so that should elevate his floor for a decent box score. He has the chance of rolling a score that is highest in the contest, yet he’d come in as the fifth-highest player at UTIL. Enes Kanter ($2,800) seems like a solid value given the games in which he’s had to play more minutes in the front court with Daniel Theis and Robert Williams sidelined. Glenn Robinson III ($3,400) also gets the Burks boost — G-Rob was on the Dubs, where his usage and minutes were exponentially higher than his time with the Sixers this season.