Wednesday's NBA showdown on DraftKings is a single game, OKC @ POR, and it locks at 10:00 p.m. ET (7:00 p.m. PT). The captain slot scores 1.5x points at 1.5x salary, and the cap is $50,000.
Our model's ranking starts with Aday Mara of OKC at $6,200. He has a ceiling of 56.0, the highest on the board, against a DraftKings average of 20.8. That gap between average and ceiling is the reason he sits on top. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the other headline name at $12,200, with a ceiling of 47.0 and a DraftKings average of 46.6. He costs the most on the slate, and his average is already close to his ceiling.
The value plays are plentiful. Bennett Stirtz of OKC costs $3,800 with a ceiling of 36.9 and a DraftKings average of 12.7. Yang Hansen of POR is $3,600 with a ceiling of 31.0, and Micah Peavy of OKC is $4,200 with a ceiling of 31.4. Robert Williams of POR, at $4,600, has a ceiling of 32.1 and a DraftKings average of 22.1. Jared McCain of OKC at $6,600 (ceiling 37.4) and Ajay Mitchell of OKC at $8,600 (ceiling 38.6, DraftKings average 31.6) fill out the middle of the pricing.
Roster news matters here, since DraftKings lists eight players as OUT: Chet Holmgren, Jaylin Williams, Jalen Williams, Cason Wallace and Thomas Sorber of OKC, plus Ja Morant, Vit Krejci and Shaedon Sharpe of POR. We have no ownership figures for this slate, so we can't say where the crowd will land.
Our model's top lineup uses $48,900 of the $50,000 cap. It puts Mara at captain for $9,300, then adds Stirtz at $3,800, Robert Williams at $4,600, Deni Avdija at $10,400, Mitchell at $8,600 and Gilgeous-Alexander at $12,200. The build pairs cheap ceiling plays with the two priciest OKC pieces.
Lock is 10:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday, so set your lineups before then.
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