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Hi, RotoBallers! The NBA season is here and we have a wonderful salary cap contest for you over at OwnersBox!
In case you're not yet familiar, OwnersBox is a fantastic new weekly fantasy sports platform that offers plenty of game setups to fulfill your desire to draft throughout the season.
In this article, I will be providing you with my weekly fantasy football lineup picks on OwnersBox for the Week 1 Contest of the Week, a seven-day contest that starts Friday, October 22nd. Read my picks below, and then join us in this tournament as we battle it out for the cash prizes!
$5K Contest for Week 1!
OwnersBox is hooking up RotoBaller readers to celebrate the launch of their new salary cap style contests, so be sure to take advantage of these promo offers!
- Join this week's freeroll on OwnersBox - the contest is completely free to enter for new users with code NBA10, and there's a $5,000 cash guaranteed prize pool. You can also enter up to 18 lineups at $10 per lineup if you want more chances to win.
You can enter up until Friday, October 22 at 6:55 pm ET.
OwnersBox Guard Picks
Luka Doncic, DAL - PG ($31,800) - 3 games
Luka's scoring wasn't great in the opener, as he finished with just 18 points as he shot 35.3 percent from the floor. But seven assists and 11 rebounds helped make for a strong fantasy line.
And Luka's next three games are all against teams whose defenses I don't trust: Toronto, Houston, and San Antonio. There is massive potential with that upcoming stretch for Luka to have a couple explosive games. I mean, how is Houston going to slow him down? Can Kevin Porter Jr. and Jalen Green present any resistance at all?
Devin Vassell, SA - SG ($16,800) - 4 games
For shooting guards, let's look at some value plays.
Vassell plays four games this week. The cool thing about OwnersBox is that you get six games at each position, so if you play two shooting guards who each play four games, best ball is activated and your score will be based on the six best of those eight games.
Anyway, what I like about Vassell was his role in the season opener. Despite coming off the bench, he played 25 minutes, scoring 19 points on 8-for-12 shooting with five assists, two rebounds, and two steals. He has a chance to be that bench-scoring threat for the Spurs, and while his numbers may not end up being consistent, I can't pass him up at this value.
Furkan Korkmaz, PHI - SG ($16,400) - 4 games
Speaking of value, it's Korkmaz SZN! Maybe — I've been hyping him up for years and nothing ever really happens.
But like Vassell, Korkmaz was a huge bench presence in the opener, scoring 22 points on 7-for-11 shooting with four threes, five assists, and a steal. Danny Green struggled to get going in that game — if that's a trend that continues, Korkmaz should continue to see an expanded role over the rest of the season. And hey, he has games against the Thunder and Pistons this week too, just for good measure.
OwnersBox Forward Picks
Jimmy Butler, MIA - SF ($24,600) - 3 games
Solid showing for Butler in the opener against Milwaukee, as he had 21 points, six assists, four rebounds, and one steal in 29 minutes of play. It was a blowout win for Miami, so you might expect those minutes to creep into the low 30s in a close game.
Butler is this week's consistency pick. I don't think he's going to explode for like 60 fantasy points or anything, but he's someone you can reliably count on to go out there three times this upcoming week and score in the mid/high 30s, with the upside for more. That's useful when you're trying to build a lineup that features a lot of risk/reward plays.
Grant Williams, BOS - PF ($14,000) - 4 games
NBA Twitter favorite Grant Williams started the season opener with Al Horford out, finishing with 15 points on 6-for-9 shooting with four assists, five rebounds, one block, and one steal. He made three three-pointers.
His minutes will drop moving forward, assuming Horford is back. But he's likely to be the first big off the bench for Boston and has proven that he can carve out a nice offensive role. With Toronto, Houston, Charlotte, and Washington up this week, there should be space for Williams to do some damage against some questionable defenses.
Jaden McDaniels, MIN - PF ($10,500) - 3 games
Sample sizes are always tiny in the early days of the season, but McDaniels' first game suggests there's value here.
In 26 minutes against Houston, McDaniels scored just four points, but he added four rebounds, four steals, and three blocks while starting at the four.
He's a solid three-point shooter, though he missed his only attempt on Wednesday. But as long as he's starting, I think you take the strong defensive numbers and hope for a big game or two from him on the offensive end.
OwnersBox Center Picks
Nikola Jokic, DEN - C ($34,200) - 3 games
Let's play another stud!
Jokic opened the season with 27 points and 13 boards, but only had two assists. That number will go up, as he averaged 8.3 of them last year.
This is an easy play. Jokic is the most versatile center in the league in terms of his skillset, even if athleticism remains a concern. He can post a triple-double with his eyes closed. Take the three games of Jokic — when it comes to a star like this, I don't need to worry about wanting extra games for the best ball stuff.
Sample Lineup
Here's a lineup I built using some of the players from this article:
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