Tuesday's NBA showdown is a single game, DET @ NYK, with a $50,000 cap and a captain slot that scores 1.5x points at 1.5x salary. The slate locks Tue 10/27 at 8:00 p.m. ET (5:00 p.m. PT).
At the top of our model's ranking, Jalen Brunson ($9,800) carries a ceiling of 53.0 and a DraftKings average of 38.6. Cade Cunningham ($11,400) is right behind at 52.6, with an average of 41.4. Karl-Anthony Towns ($10,000) shows a 46.4 ceiling, and OG Anunoby ($7,400) a 43.3 ceiling against a 30.0 average. Ausar Thompson ($8,000) has a 37.5 ceiling but carries a Q tag from DraftKings, so his status deserves a check before lock.
The value end is where this slate can be won. Tyler Kolek at $3,200 has a 33.3 ceiling, well above his 12.5 average, which makes him one of the strongest points-per-dollar options on the board. Taurean Prince at $5,000 has a 32.8 ceiling against a 2.4 average, so that number is all upside and no track record. Mohamed Diawara at $1,000 tops out at 14.2, a pure salary saver for builds that need room elsewhere. Note that Jalen Duren (DET) and Jose Alvarado (NYK) are both tagged OUT, and Isaiah Joe (DET) is tagged Q.
The fact sheet gives no ownership figures for this slate, so we won't guess where the crowd will land. With only one game, expect heavy overlap on the top-salaried stars and the cheap NYK pieces.
Our model's top lineup uses $49,900 of the $50,000 cap. It puts Cunningham at captain for $17,100, then rounds out the build with Kolek ($3,200), Paul Reed ($7,000), Anunoby ($7,400), Brunson ($9,800) and Daniss Jenkins ($5,400). It pairs a DET captain with a mostly NYK supporting cast, leaning on Kolek's price to afford both stars.
Lineups lock Tue 10/27 at 8:00 p.m. ET.
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