Friday's NBA showdown is a one-game slate, CHA @ WAS, with a $50,000 salary cap and a captain slot that scores 1.5x points at 1.5x salary. The slate locks Fri 10/30 at 7:00 p.m. ET (4:00 p.m. PT).
The expensive end of the pool is where the ceilings sit. Brandon Miller of CHA is $9,800 with a ceiling of 62.0 and a DraftKings average of 38.5, the highest ceiling among our top plays. Anthony Davis of WAS is $10,600 with a 57.2 ceiling and a 38.8 average. Trae Young of WAS is $10,000 with a 56.0 ceiling and a 34.2 average. All three are priced to match, so the question is how to fit them under the cap.
The value plays come from the bottom of the salary scale. Anthony Gill of WAS and Hannes Steinbach of CHA are both $1,000, with ceilings of 30.2 and 22.5. Tidjane Salaun of CHA is $1,600 with a 21.6 ceiling. Deandre Ayton of WAS is $4,000 with a 33.9 ceiling, and Bilal Coulibaly of WAS is $5,000 with a 36.8 ceiling and an 18.2 DraftKings average. Gill's ceiling is more than seven times his DraftKings average of 4.3, so he is a ceiling play rather than a safe one.
Check the status tags before building. DraftKings lists Kon Knueppel, Coby White and Grant Williams of CHA as OUT, along with Justin Champagnie, Tristan Vukcevic and Jamir Watkins of WAS. Dennis Schroder of CHA and Tre Johnson of WAS carry a Q tag.
Our model's top lineup uses $49,700 of the $50,000 cap. It puts Brandon Miller at captain for $14,700, then adds Trae Young at $10,000, Moussa Diabate at $6,600, Anthony Davis at $10,600, Ryan Kalkbrenner at $2,800 and Bilal Coulibaly at $5,000. Lock is Fri 10/30 at 7:00 p.m. ET.
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