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We’ve back with another NBA Showdown Simulation on DraftKings for Sunday night. This time, we’ll get a matchup between the top two rookies in New Orleans Pelicans PF Zion Williamson and Memphis Grizzlies PG Ja Morant. This obviously isn’t the matchup in which we get to watch these two talents go head-to-head, but we do get to see which box score each will put up tonight. Let’s get into some picks.
As a reminder, here is how the contest is scored, be sure to review this before crafting a lineup.
Captain’s Picks
Since there aren’t any injuries to take into consideration, this shouldn’t be too hard to figure out. I like Jrue Holiday ($14,700) the most of this bunch at Captain. He’s had very high ceiling games this season, so rolling one of those box scores seems favorable at this price. The interesting thing though is Zion Williamson ($15,300) having only played a limited amount of games. Does that impact how we choose our Captain? Less box scores means less variance and more consistency, since we know what Zion had been doing before the season stopped. I’d lean Holiday for savings, but Zion is enticing.
FLEX Options
Derrick Favors is dirt cheap at $3,400 and was seeing decent minutes and had been averaging around a double-double in the month of March before coronavirus suspended the season. Favors is a top value given his floor at this price. I also don’t mind Nickeil Alexander-Walker at $1,200 given he’s had a few lottery ticket like box scores this season that could hit.
In the mid-range, I really like two players on both sides. Lonzo Ball ($6,000) has a lot of appeal at this price point given his ceiling is a triple-double. Brandon Clarke ($5,600) is relatively efficient this season as a rookie and while he’s missed time for injuries, that lowers his range of outcomes. There’s also value in Jaren Jackson Jr. ($7,000) with the injury limiting his amount of games played, which should increase his floor overall.