Friday's NBA showdown is a single game, NYK @ PHI, with the usual captain twist: the captain slot scores 1.5x points at 1.5x salary, and you build around a $50,000 cap. The slate locks at 7:30 p.m. ET (4:30 p.m. PT).
At the top of our model's ranking is Joel Embiid (PHI) at $10,200, with a ceiling of 63.8 and a DraftKings average of 44.4. Jalen Brunson (NYK) is right behind him at $9,400, carrying a 60.7 ceiling and a 41.7 average. LeBron James (PHI) at $8,600 has a 58.5 ceiling and a 39.0 average, which makes him the cheapest of the three stars. Tyrese Maxey (PHI) costs $9,800 with a 55.2 ceiling and a 39.3 average. Jaylen Brown (PHI) is $9,000 with a 54.5 ceiling and a 37.7 average, though he carries a Q tag from DraftKings.
The value end of the board is where lineups get squeezed into shape. Tyler Kolek (NYK) is only $3,400 but has a 38.2 ceiling, a big number for the price, even with a 13.2 average. Adem Bona (PHI) at $1,600 has a 21.5 ceiling, and Justin Edwards (PHI) at $1,000 tops out at 16.6. Both are pure salary relief if you want to spend up elsewhere. Several players are tagged OUT, including Jose Alvarado (NYK), Jabari Walker (PHI), Dominick Barlow (PHI), Ariel Hukporti (PHI) and Tacko Fall (PHI), so confirm those statuses before you finalize anything.
We don't have ownership figures for this slate, so there is no read on where the crowd will land.
Our model's top lineup uses $49,900 of the $50,000 cap. It puts Embiid in the captain slot at $15,300, then adds LeBron James ($8,600), Dean Wade ($3,200), Jalen Brunson ($9,400), Karl-Anthony Towns ($10,000) and Tyler Kolek ($3,400). Wade and Kolek at the cheap end make room for the two big-salary pieces and the captain premium.
Lineups lock at 7:30 p.m. ET.
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