Today’s Best Bets
FTN Staff
Welcome back to NBA Summer League! One of my favorite events on the basketball calendar has arrived. Let’s start with my annual 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. 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 opening night four-gamer is that you will get burned by late news if you play DFS and props throughout the tournament. As soon as Day 3 we could see high-profile players rested for some of these teams. We will have to be extra vigilant. There has not been a Summer League where at least one of my main slate builds was completely tarnished by late news. But if we 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 1
Houston Rockets
The first matchup of the slate is one of two “premier” games on the night for the league, both on the main court in the Thomas & Mack Center. The Rockets will debut third overall pick Reed Sheppard, who is a great spend-up option on this slate. Sheppard, a lights out three-point shooter, averaged 12 points, 4 rebounds, 4 rebounds and 2 steals in 29 minutes per game at Kentucky last season. He’s a solid spend-up option on a slate with more than enough value. But it’s not just the former Kentucky Wildcat that we should have our eye on.
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