Bucks vs. Knicks Simulated NBA Game: DraftKings Showdown DFS Strategies and Captain's Picks

With real basketball currently on hiatus, DraftKings is launching simulated basketball games! Thursday’s simulation is between the Bucks and Knicks, and the contest locks at 3:00 p.m. ET. Take note of the rules since this contest doesn’t work like any other contest we have had before.

Set your free to play lineups here: Simulated Basketball $2K FREE Contest (MIL vs NY)

Curious about when major leagues and events will return? Check out our DraftKings Sports Calendar for the latest updates.

Note: All salaries will be Flex prices unless noted as Captain’s Pick prices.

SHOWDOWN STRATEGY

New York Knicks

There aren’t many players from the Knicks we can confidently roster. The playing time and production from this team has been very inconsistent from game-to-game. The most reliable source of fantasy production from the Knicks this season is Julius Randle ($10,200). He averages 38.25 DKFP and is the only player on the team putting up over 30 DKFP per night. As the second best fantasy producer in this game per DKFP averages, Randle makes for a solid play.

Oddly, RJ Barrett ($8,600) is way more expensive than Elfrid Payton ($4,400). Behind Randle, Payton is the second best fantasy producer on the Knicks. He averages 29.86 DKFP compared to an average of 26.4 DKFP for Barrett. Of the two, Payton should pretty clearly be more expensive and is one of the better value plays in this contest. Another player I think we can confidently fade is Bobby Portis ($7,200). His salary is crazy high for a player who only is putting up 20.36 DKFP per game. Arguably, Portis is the most overpriced player we have so far in an NBA sim game.

As a risky cheap play from New York, Frank Ntilikina ($2,400) has had some decent games. Occasionally starting at point guard for the Knicks, he averages 17.53 DKFP in the role and even has a couple games with 43 DKFP. Ntilikina is a variance play since he has some duds in his game log, but he has the upside to break the slate at a low price. We could also roll the dice on Dennis Smith Jr. ($2,000), who has had a couple of decent games when moving into the starting lineup due to injuries.

Milwaukee Bucks

With a lack of fantasy stars to roster in this contest, my favorite play in the Captain’s spot is Giannis Antetokounmpo ($17,700 CP/$11,800), by a pretty wide margin. The Greek Freak averages 60.11 DKFP this season, by far the most of any player in this contest. Since there are a lack of players I am confident in from the Knicks’ side, I think we have to go with Giannis a Captain to get the most of secured DKFP as possible.

The next most expensive players on the Bucks, Khris Middleton ($9,800) and Eric Bledsoe ($9,400), always make some sense to roster in this format. Each has had some massive fantasy scores on their game logs from games that were missed by Giannis. Middleton has dropped as many as 76.5 DKFP while Bledsoe scored as much as 60 DKFP. Of the two, I prefer Middleton, even though there is a bit of a gap between these two secondary stars’ salaries. For the season, Middleton is averaging 37.39 DKFP, compared to 31.59 DKFP for Bledsoe.

Donte DiVincenzo ($5,800) is a decent midrange player from the Bucks’ side of this game. With the team often shorthanded either due to rest or injuries, DiVincenzo has stepped up on a number of occasions. He’s scored over 30 DKFP 10 times. Typically a value play at a cheap price, Ersan Ilyasova ($4,800) has seen a big price increase for this contest, making him a player that I think we can fade. Ilyasova’s role was reduced in the games before the NBA went on hiatus, so that makes it hard for him to count on for production. In earlier sims, he made more sense to take a chance on since he was nearly the minimum price.

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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is gehrenberg) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.