NBA Summer League DFS Plays (Tuesday 7/16)

NBA Summer League rolls on! Even though we’re nearing the halfway point, I’ll still include my warnings about how this tournament works. First, the rules are different. For our purposes, the three most important rule changes are that the games are 40 minutes instead of 48, players get 10 personal fouls instead of six, and it takes 10 team fouls in one quarter for a team to reach the bonus rather than five.

Secondly, and most important for any potential newbies, information regarding inactive players and starting lineups is going to be a lot less readily available than you’re used to during NBA DFS. Of course, there isn’t as much beat writer coverage for Summer League (although it’s increasing year over year), but the AAU style schedule is really what complicates things. This tournament takes place in two gyms in Las Vegas and with so many games each day, most games after the first two of each slate will tip off well after that game’s scheduled lock time. The later in a slate a game is scheduled, the less likely it is that we will be able to find starting lineups. I believe on Saturday’s main slate we only got one starting lineup prior to a game’s scheduled start time. On the flip side, when that news does come, we can gain an incredible advantage.

The last thing I will caution against before we dive into the fifth main slate of the event is that you will get burned by late news if you play DFS and props throughout the tournament. We’ve already seen a number of high-profile players shut down for some of these teams. We will have to be extra vigilant and shout out to all the FTN subscribers who have been contributing to our news search in the Discord over the last few days. There has not been a Summer League where at least one of my main slate builds was tarnished by late news and that came to fruition last night for me when Kenneth Lofton Jr. was ruled out after lock. But if we continue to stay vigilant as a group in the Discord and comb Twitter for those sweet, sweet news morsels, we will have a productive tournament! Keep that in mind as we move through the ups and downs of these glorious 10 days.

Summer League Notes – Day 5

Philadelphia 76ers

Tuesday feels like it’s going to be madness with news (or lack thereof). Philly is on the second end of a back-to-back on this slate after a two-point loss to the Blazers Monday. We could certainly see them rest a player or two, but I think wholesale changes with the Summer Sixers is unlikely. They have a shorter roster than most teams in the field after losing Darius Days, Romeo Langford and Justin Powell to injury or illness prior to the tournament. RJ Hampton also sat out last game with a hamstring and is in doubt. For me, the three top candidates to rest are Ricky Council IV ($8.9k), Jeff Dowtin ($6.9k) and rookie Jared McCain ($6.8k). I think Dowtin is the most likely, followed by Council then McCain. Dowtin was supposed to sit out Vegas after participating in Salt Lake City, but at the last minute he was put back on the roster. I think McCain is the least likely to rest as the Sixers could want to watch him command the first unit without the more experienced hand of Dowtin out there with him. To be clear, these are just my hunches this morning, not based on any actual reporting from beats on the ground in Vegas. All three are in play at their prices, and I greatly prefer the savings on Dowtin or McCain to spending all the way up to Council if they are all active.

This frontcourt is also intriguing given some of the pricing. Adem Bona ($5.9k) should continue to start and if he does, he’s a fine play. But on a slate with some uncertain salary relief options, NBA vet Tony Bradley ($4.4k) could make some sense at center. He caught a DNP-CD in Philly’s first game but played 17 minutes off the bench Monday against Portland, posting 23 DK points. He’s been a highly productive fantasy asset in Vegas over his 19 career appearances, but the last time we saw him in Vegas was 2019, when he averaged 20 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 stocks in 26 minutes per game across five games with Utah. There’s a non-zero chance he could start if Bona rested, but I think the most likely runout is another bench appearance. At his price given the value options available on this slate, he’s in play.

The other names I’ll add as secondary options are Justin Edwards ($4.8k) and Keve Aluma ($4.7k). The latter was significantly owned yesterday for a bench option and with Bradley entering the rotation, I do prefer Bradley to Aluma. Edwards should start again but isn’t a very efficient fantasy asset.