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This isn’t exactly a game you’d want to sit down and watch all the way through, but that’s the beauty of fantasy basketball and sport gambling! We’ve got a battle between two of the worst teams in the Western Conference: the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors. The Kings are 1-9 in their past 10 games and ironically are only 2.0 games out of the No. 8 seed in the West. Even the Dubs have a shot at salvaging their season if they can get back on track, only 6.5 games off the Spurs for the 8-seed.
The Warriors are dealing with a few big injuries, mainly to D’Angelo Russell and Draymond Green. Green and Russell are listed as out tonight, so Golden State will be shorthanded, which should open up some value. Let’s take a look at how to approach tonight’s DraftKings Showdown.
Captain’s Pick
This contest is more wide open than normal Showdowns, when we have a couple of clear options for the Captain. With Green and Russell out, the Warriors have a few value options available. Alec Burks ($10,800) is reasonably priced for the amount of usage and minutes we can expect with D’Lo out. Burks has games of 27 and 28 points recently and the Kings aren’t an imposing defensive team. Damion Lee ($10,200) isn’t a bad option as well given the amount of minutes he’s seeing each game.
On the Kings side, Buddy Hield ($12,600) is probably the safest option for cash games. He’s scored at least 20 points in five straight games, playing at least 33 minutes in each contest. Hield’s usage is also really high over this stretch and his peripheral stats give him a high floor. If I had to choose, I’d say Hield is the strongest option at Captain.
FLEX Options
I think it’ll be easy to fit in Hield, Burks and Lee if you want to, but we need the value. Ky Bowman ($2,600) has been seeing increased minutes in the backcourt with Stephen Curry and Russell sidelined. Green normally eats up some minutes at point guard in certain situations, so Bowman should get some run tonight. I’m a little worried about his usage and minutes, but Eric Paschall ($3,600) has a high floor from what we’ve seen earlier in the season. If he can get to 20-25 minutes at this price he’d return value easily. Nemanja Bjelica ($6,200) and Harry Giles ($1,400) would be my UTIL plays for the Kings. De’Aaron Fox ($9,400) seems like a fade given his price, but the matchup has me a little scared of that.