Friday's NBA showdown is a single game, LAL @ GSW, with a $50,000 salary cap and a captain slot that scores 1.5x points at 1.5x salary. The slate locks at 10:00 p.m. ET (7:00 p.m. PT).
Luka Doncic (LAL) is the top play by our model's ranking, and he carries the biggest numbers on the board. He costs $13,000 with a ceiling of 88.2 and a DraftKings average of 50.9. Stephen Curry (GSW) is $8,800 with a ceiling of 60.8, while Yaxel Lendeborg (GSW) is $8,200 with a 63.2 ceiling. Walker Kessler (LAL) at $8,600 has a 51.7 ceiling, and Brandin Podziemski (GSW) at $7,200 sits at 48.9.
The value end is where this slate gets interesting. Collin Sexton (LAL) at $5,400 has a ceiling of 43.7 against a DraftKings average of 18.3. Further down, Jaden Hardy (LAL) is only $1,600 with a 30.2 ceiling, and L.J. Cryer (GSW) is $1,000 with a 24.2 ceiling. Both averages are tiny, 3.5 and 3.2, so treat them as ceiling bets rather than safe floors. Plenty of status tags are in play too: Jimmy Butler, Kristaps Porzingis and Moses Moody (GSW) are all tagged OUT, as are Cameron Carr and Adou Thiero (LAL). Gui Santos (GSW) and Ziaire Williams (LAL) are tagged Q.
Our fact sheet does not include ownership figures for this slate, so we can't say where the crowd will land.
Our model's top lineup spends $49,700 of the $50,000 cap. It puts Doncic at captain for $19,500, then adds Lendeborg at $8,200, Curry at $8,800, Graham Ike at $3,800, Sexton at $5,400 and Jake LaRavia at $4,000. It leans on the stars and fills out the build with mid-priced pieces.
The slate locks Friday at 10:00 p.m. ET.
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