Wednesday's NBA turbo slate on DraftKings runs four games: NYK @ CHI, HOU @ MIL, GSW @ MIN and DEN @ NOP. Classic rules apply with a $50,000 salary cap, and the slate locks at 8:00 p.m. ET (5:00 p.m. PT).
The top of our model's ranking starts with Nikola Jokic of DEN. At $12,000 he is the most expensive player on the board, but his ceiling of 107.7 and DraftKings average of 57.5 are far beyond anyone else listed. Josh Giddey of CHI is the next major piece at $7,900, with a ceiling of 79.6 and an average of 30.9. Jamal Murray of DEN, at $8,500, carries a ceiling of 68.0 and an average of 41.5, giving DEN a second high-end option.
The value plays are where the slate can be built. DeAndre Jordan of NOP costs just $3,200, yet his ceiling is 67.2 against a DraftKings average of 17.9. That gap is large for a center at that price. Jeremiah Fears of NOP, at $5,100, has a ceiling of 63.2 and an average of 24.2. At the bottom of the board, Ryan Nembhard of DEN ($3,000, ceiling 42.2), Ousmane Dieng of MIL ($3,100, ceiling 47.5) and Cody Williams of MIN ($3,000, ceiling 38.1) offer minimum-salary flexibility.
Ownership figures are not available for this slate, so we will not guess where the crowd is headed. DraftKings status tags are worth checking before lock. Anthony Edwards of MIN, Alperen Sengun of HOU, Jimmy Butler and Kristaps Porzingis of GSW, Yves Missi of NOP and Nic Claxton of CHI all carry an OUT tag, while Yaxel Lendeborg of GSW and Marcus Smart of HOU are tagged Q.
Our model's top lineup uses $48,900 of the $50,000 cap. It runs Giddey at PG ($7,900), Fears at SG ($5,100), DeMar DeRozan at SF ($5,500), Dieng at PF ($3,100) and Jokic at C ($12,000). The flex spots go to Tre Jones at G ($4,300), Mikal Bridges at F ($5,100) and OG Anunoby at UTIL ($5,900). Lineups lock Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. ET.
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