Wednesday's NBA showdown is a single game, PHI @ IND, with a $50,000 cap. The captain slot scores 1.5x points at 1.5x salary. Lock is Wed 10/28 at 7:00 p.m. ET (4:00 p.m. PT).
Our model's top ceilings belong to Tyrese Haliburton at 67.4 and Joel Embiid at 66.7. Haliburton costs $9,400 and averages 44.9 on DraftKings, but he carries a Q tag, so check his status before lock. Embiid is $9,800 with a 48.3 DraftKings average. LeBron James is next at $8,400 with a 64.6 ceiling, and Jaylen Brown is $9,000 with a 60.0 ceiling.
The value plays sit at the bottom of the salary scale. Jalen Slawson and Kobe Brown, both IND, cost $1,000 each and have ceilings of 36.8 and 36.7. Rayan Rupert of PHI is $2,800 with a 51.1 ceiling, a big number for the price. Justin Edwards, also PHI at $1,000, tops out at 17.3 in our model, so he is the thinnest of the cheap options.
Several IND players carry DraftKings tags. Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Obi Toppin and Aaron Nesmith are listed Q, while Ivica Zubac and T.J. McConnell are OUT. On the PHI side, Jabari Walker and Tacko Fall are OUT. That tag list is worth rechecking close to lock, since it can reshuffle the salary-saving options.
Our model's top lineup uses $48,700 of the $50,000. It puts Embiid at captain for $14,700, then fills the UTIL slots with Pascal Siakam at $8,800, Anfernee Simons at $4,000, Quenton Jackson at $3,800, James at $8,400 and Jaylen Brown at $9,000. The build spends heavily on stars and gets there by pairing the cheaper Simons and Jackson with them.
Lock is Wed 10/28 at 7:00 p.m. ET.
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