Thursday's NBA showdown on DraftKings is a single game, ORL @ PHX, with a $50,000 salary cap and a captain slot that pays 1.5x points at 1.5x salary. The slate locks Thu 11/5 at 9:00 p.m. ET (6:00 p.m. PT).
At the top of the board, Franz Wagner (ORL) leads on ceiling at 59.8 for $10,400. Devin Booker (PHX) follows at $9,800 with a 53.7 ceiling and a DraftKings average of 37.7, the best average among the top plays. Jalen Green (PHX) sits at $7,400 with a 50.8 ceiling, and Miles Bridges (PHX) at $8,200 carries a 45.1 ceiling and a 32.4 average.
Dillon Brooks (PHX) is the cheapest of the high-end group at $7,600. His ceiling of 42.4 and average of 30.1 make him a reasonable way to save salary without leaving the PHX core.
The value plays sit at the bottom of the salary scale. Pat Spencer (PHX) and Jamaree Bouyea (PHX) both cost $1,000, with ceilings of 26.7 and 19.1. Goga Bitadze (ORL) is $1,600 with a 25.5 ceiling. Their DraftKings averages are only 3.5 to 4.0, so these are upside bets, not safe floors. Several rotation names carry OUT tags, including Paolo Banchero (ORL), Jalen Suggs (ORL), Mark Williams (PHX) and Jordan Goodwin (PHX), which is why the cheap options matter on this slate.
The sheet gives no ownership figures, so we can't say where the crowd will land.
Our model's top lineup uses the full $50,000. It puts Franz Wagner in the captain slot at $15,600, then adds Oso Ighodaro at $4,800, Devin Booker at $9,800, Jamal Cain at $4,000, Miles Bridges at $8,200 and Dillon Brooks at $7,600. Lock is Thu 11/5 at 9:00 p.m. ET, so get your lineups in before then.
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