Saturday's NBA showdown is a single game, GSW @ PHX, and it locks at 10:00 p.m. ET (7:00 p.m. PT). One game means one captain slot that scores 1.5x points at 1.5x salary, with a $50,000 cap to build around.
At the top of the board, our model's ranking leans on two names. Jalen Green of PHX costs $8,400 with a ceiling of 45.9 and a DraftKings average of 29.2. Yaxel Lendeborg of GSW is right behind at $8,200, with a ceiling of 45.4 and an average of 31.3. Both are priced near the top of the player pool, and their ceilings show why.
The value end of the pool is where this slate gets interesting. Pat Spencer of PHX is $1,000 with a ceiling of 24.8, and Jamaree Bouyea and Rasheer Fleming, both PHX, are also $1,000 with ceilings of 18.8 and 17.7. Graham Ike of GSW is $1,400 with a ceiling of 22.0 and a DraftKings average of 20.4. In the middle tier, Luke Kennard is $3,800 with a ceiling of 34.4, and Jordan Goodwin is $3,400 with a ceiling of 30.7, both PHX. Several of the cheapest players carry ceilings far above what their salaries ask.
Several players carry a DraftKings OUT tag: Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler, Brandin Podziemski, Draymond Green, Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford for GSW, and Oso Ighodaro and Mark Williams for PHX. That is a lot of absent names across both rosters.
Our model's top lineup uses $48,800 of the $50,000 cap. It puts Jalen Green at captain for $12,600, then adds Devin Booker at $10,200, Brandon Williams at $4,000, Dillon Brooks at $6,800, Gui Santos at $7,000 and Yaxel Lendeborg at $8,200. It pairs the slate's top two ceilings with a pair of mid-priced pieces to balance the build.
Lineups lock at 10:00 p.m. ET.
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