The NBA gives us a one-game showdown on Saturday 10/31, with OKC visiting HOU. The slate locks at 8:30 p.m. ET (5:30 p.m. PT). It uses the standard captain format, where the captain slot scores 1.5x points at 1.5x salary, and the cap is $50,000.
The top end of our model's board runs through the stars. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the most expensive piece at $11,400 and carries the highest ceiling on the slate at 62.2, against a DraftKings average of 38.8. Alperen Sengun costs $10,000 with a 54.8 ceiling and a 37.8 average. Amen Thompson sits at $8,800 with a 50.5 ceiling and a 36.8 average, while Kevin Durant at $9,200 has a 48.1 ceiling and the best DraftKings average of the group at 40.7.
The value plays are where this slate gets interesting. Oscar Tshiebwe at $2,400 has a 35.9 ceiling, a big number for the price, even with a modest 9.5 DraftKings average. Marcus Smart at $4,200 offers a 37.3 ceiling and a 21.6 average. Bogdan Bogdanovic at $1,600 tops out at 21.9, and Brooks Barnhizer at $1,000 has a 14.9 ceiling for those who need to dig for salary. Many names are unavailable. DraftKings lists Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, Alex Caruso, Cason Wallace and Nikola Topic of OKC as OUT, along with Fred VanVleet, Reed Sheppard and Steven Adams of HOU.
Our fact sheet does not include ownership figures for this slate, so there is no read on where the crowd is leaning.
Our model's top lineup uses $49,500 of the $50,000 cap. It puts Gilgeous-Alexander in the captain slot at $17,100, then fills the UTIL spots with Kenrich Williams at $4,000, Amen Thompson at $8,800, Oscar Tshiebwe at $2,400, Alperen Sengun at $10,000 and Ajay Mitchell at $7,200. It pairs the slate's highest-ceiling player at captain with a cheap Tshiebwe, which is what frees up room for both Thompson and Sengun.
Lineups lock Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET.
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