Saturday's main DraftKings slate runs five games: BKN @ CLE, MIL @ PHI, WAS @ CHI, SAS @ DAL and HOU @ ATL. Rosters lock at 7:30 p.m. ET (4:30 p.m. PT), and the player pool is under the usual $50,000 cap.
At the top end, our model likes Josh Giddey of CHI at $8,400, with a ceiling of 78.4 and a DraftKings average of 38.8. Anthony Davis of WAS is right behind him at $8,700, carrying a ceiling of 77.2 and a DraftKings average of 43.1. Both fit in the same lineup, and both rank among our model's top plays.
The value tier is where the slate gets interesting. Rayan Rupert of PHI and Cormac Ryan of MIL each cost $3,000, with ceilings of 56.8 and 50.2. Their DraftKings averages are only 4.5 and 2.4, so these are ceiling plays rather than steady producers. MIL has plenty of cheap options: Ousmane Dieng at $3,800 has a 51.6 ceiling, AJ Green at $3,800 tops out at 46.0, and Jericho Sims at $3,000 has a 37.8 ceiling. Will Riley of WAS adds a 54.0 ceiling at $4,400.
Several players carry DraftKings status tags. Cooper Flagg (DAL), LeBron James (PHI), Kyrie Irving (DAL), AJ Dybantsa (WAS), Fred VanVleet (HOU), Nic Claxton (CHI) and Tobias Harris (SAS) are all tagged OUT, while Reed Sheppard (HOU) is tagged Q. Check those tags again before lock.
We don't have ownership figures for this slate, so we won't guess where the crowd will land.
Our model's top lineup uses $48,800 of the $50,000 cap: Giddey at PG, Riley at SG, Dieng at SF, Davis at PF, Alperen Sengun at C ($8,500), Green at G, Jaylen Brown at F ($7,700) and Moussa Cisse at UTIL ($3,500). Get your lineups set before the 7:30 p.m. ET lock.
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