Hoop'd weeks 18 & 19 · written by the commissioner, read by the whole league

The Art of Balance: hogmoresalad takes two straight Hoop'd weeks

A real edition from our 2024-25 coverage, word for word. This is what landed in ten inboxes on a Wednesday in March, and why they kept getting opened. Standings screenshots have been re-set as tables; otherwise, lightly trimmed.

Week 18: hogmoresalad's first Hoop'd win

This was a low-scoring week, with no one cracking 300 points — meaning balance was the key. There are two schools of thought in Hoop'd (or any DFS-style game):

1. Go big with >$10K superstars and find sub-$5K value gems (risky, but big upside if everyone hits).
2. Stay safe — no one under ~$5.5K, no one over ~$9K, aiming for consistent production.

You'll see this as a common theme across these two weeks. hogmoresalad took the safe approach and it paid off — BOTH weeks.

Key picks that made the difference 🔥

• Kyrie Irving (40+ FP) — also picked by lmcadams (2nd place) and OhMamaWembanyama (last place)
• Jaden McDaniels (41 FP) — insane production. Also on lmcadams' and adit+yfeng's teams.
• Dyson Daniels (44 FP) — also picked by Nate (8th place) and lmcadams.
• Kawhi Leonard (40 FP) — hogmoresalad was the ONLY one who picked him.
• Naz Reid (44 FP) — lmcadams' differentiator instead of Kawhi as he finished 2nd with a similarly balanced lineup. With Randle and Gobert out, Naz has been putting up numbers.

Other notable picks

• ✅ DeMar DeRozan (41 FP, sub-$8K) — nice value, only picked by adit.
• ✅ Brook Lopez (38 FP, sub-$6K) — even better, only picked by CTang.
• ✅ Deni Avdija (38 FP) — picked by me and CTang, sneaky solid play.
• ✅ De'Aaron Fox (46 FP) — took advantage of Wemby's injury, nice under-$9K pick.

Who flopped?

• ❌ Max Christie (17.8 FP) — no value here.
• ❌ Jordan Poole (sub-30 FP) + Sabonis (sub-35 FP) — Jack spent 17K+ on these two and got burned.
• ❌ D'Angelo Russell (9.5 FP) — yfeng and adit took the L here, brutal week.

Week 19: hogmoresalad goes back-to-back

hogmoresalad did exactly what worked last time — balanced scoring, no major duds. His lowest scorer was Andrew Nembhard with 23 FP, which is already a good sign.

[In the original email: a screenshot of hogmoresalad's group-chat breakdown of his balanced build. The receipts always make the edition.]

Top picks that won him the week 🔥

• Kyrie (41 FP) — almost identical to last week. Also picked by me and CTang.
• Christian Braun (40.5 FP) — the ONLY person who picked him. Massive find.
• Jalen Williams (44 FP) — another BIG pick for hogmoresalad.
• Jaden McDaniels (37 FP) — continues to be a solid mid-range play.
• Pascal Siakam (39 FP) & Jonas Valanciunas (38 FP) — both only picked by hogmoresalad.

hogmoresalad took the lead from me in the middle of the week and his score only continued to raise from there which led him to a comfortable win this week. The previous week was a low scoring week for everyone, but hogmoresalad was able to win again in a noticeably higher scoring week fending off both me and Adit who had 300+ FP weeks as well. I think hogmoresalad has been burned by the most in-week injuries of anyone playing this season just based off observation.

Biggest what-if? Is Dallas having the worst year, ever?

🚨 Kyrie tore his Achilles in the first. He still managed 41 FP, but this season literally might be the worst season in NBA history to be a fan of if you're a Mavs fan.

First you trade Luka outta the blue which still sends shock waves to my body anytime I think about it. And then you get AD, who DOMINATES his 1st Q of Mavs play, then subsequently gets hurt and hasn't played since. Then you're hoping he comes back, gains some FAST chemistry, the Mavs can at least salvage a stressful season into a decent playoff run, but Kyrie tears his achilles, AD is now talking about not coming back this season AND the Mavs are raising their ticket prices. Nico Harrison is literally the biggest joke in the NBA rn and maybe forever.

Other standout performances in Week 19

• ✅ Zach Collins (40 FP, sub-$4K) — saved my week. This goes back to my original point: if you're going big on superstars, your lower-tier picks HAVE to hit.
• ✅ Josh Giddey (44 FP) — picked by Adit (3rd) and Nate (4th).
• ✅ Ausar Thompson (34+ FP, ~$6K) — stock machine, and his minutes are climbing.

Who fell short?

• ❌ Trae Young (35 FP) & Josh Hart (30 FP) — Nate had a solid team, but these two underwhelmed.
• ❌ De'Aaron Fox (31 FP) — also hurt Brandy's squad.
• ❌ CTang & I went with Luka + Kyrie. The duo combined for just 90 FP, which isn't enough when you're spending $20K+ on them.

Jack's rough week

Jack spent over $21K on Luka and Cade and only got 88 FP. Then, his lower salary picks (Alvarado + Moody) flopped, and Hart (30 FP) + Barrett (32 FP) didn't do enough. The only silver lining? Filipowski (25 FP at $4.5K) & Keldon Johnson (25.6 FP at the same price) were solid value.

Onto Week 20!