It’s a Tuesday, which means that DraftKings is running its signature King of the Court promotion. King of the Court is all about stuffing the stat sheet: whichever player has the most combined points, rebounds, and assists wins, and if a DraftKings user has placed their KotC token on one of that player’s prop bets, they’ll earn a share of $1 million in bonus bets. Full contest details are below.
Hitting on the bet is unimportant: one could place a bet on, say, Luka Dončić to make five three-pointers (+116), and if he makes only four but finishes as the night’s P/R/A leader, the bet will lose but that user will be paid out a share of the bonus bets. However, hitting on a bet is always nice.
The three players with the highest P/R/A totals for tonight’s slate are the Los Angeles Lakers’ Dončić (51.5), the Orlando Magic’s Paolo Banchero (41.5), and the Dallas Mavericks’ Anthony Davis (40.5). Below, I’ll lay out my favorite prop bets centered around those three players so users know where to start as they bet on the stars.
Luka Dončić 35+ Points (-101)
Dončić had actually fallen short of the 35-point threshold in each of his previous five games before finally scoring 36 in Los Angeles’ most recent game. It’s not like he was way short, though, as he scored 34 points twice in that stretch. He still hasn’t been super efficient, but he’s done a better job adapting to the flow: after shooting just one-for-six from deep in the first three quarters on January 2, he attempted only one in the fourth quarter, which came with more than seven minutes left in the frame. Dončić has multiple ways of beating his opponents: he can be effective from deep if his shot is falling, and he’s downright unstoppable at the rim (his 90.3% accuracy in the restricted area leads the league among players averaging two or more shots at the rim per game).
He has an extremely friendly matchup tonight in the New Orleans Pelicans, who have multiple ways of being beaten. The Pelicans have allowed the second-most shot attempts in the restricted area, which has ballooned to the most shots at the rim across their current seven-game losing streak, and have compounded those errors by allowing opponents to convert at the seventh-highest percentage. That lackluster rim deterrence could be okay if not for the fact that New Orleans also has allowed the league’s most wide-open threes, its most catch-and-shoot threes, and its most corner threes. Despite his mediocre efficiency this season, Dončić has still been a good shooter given his chances: he’s taken the hardest threes of any qualified player and has hit them at a clip 1.0 percentage points better than average.
Paolo Banchero to Record a Double-Double (-118)
Since Banchero’s co-star, Franz Wagner, went down with a high-ankle sprain against the New York Knicks on December 7, Banchero has taken a step forward, averaging 21.3 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. Though questions remain — his jump-shooting efficiency is still dismal, and for the fourth consecutive season, the Magic have had a better net rating with him off the court than on it — it’s hard to deny three triple-doubles in the span of four games. He’s even been more efficient in that stretch, posting 53-47-67 shooting splits, though the free-throw percentage suggests that his overall shooting is due for a regression.
That regression might not happen against the Washington Wizards, whose defense has been expectedly awful for such a young and inexperienced team. Even in its last 10 games — a span in which the Wizards are 5-5, including a win over a likely playoff team in the Toronto Raptors — Washington has still been exploitable on the boards, allowing the fourth-most per game and putting up the 11th-lowest total rebounding percentage. Defensively, Banchero is most likely to guard Khris Middleton, who, at this point in his career, isn’t much of a threat on the glass. The first time these two teams faced off, Banchero had 28 points and 11 boards.
Anthony Davis 12+ Rebounds (-120)
Ever since the man who brought him to Dallas, Nico Harrison, was fired, it has been widely assumed that Davis would eventually be traded so the Mavericks could focus fully on rebuilding around Cooper Flagg. But The Brow reportedly would prefer to stay in North Texas and sign an extension, and if he keeps playing like he did in Dallas’ 110-104 win over the Houston Rockets on Saturday, he could definitely still be an asset by the time the new Flagg-led core is ready to compete. He just dropped 26 points, 12 boards, and three assists against the best rebounding team of all time on Saturday, his seventh 12-plus-rebound effort in 12 games since the start of December.
He should be able to continue cleaning the glass against the Sacramento Kings, who have been an unmitigated disaster this season. The Kings are just 8-28, better than only the Pelicans, and since franchise player Domantas Sabonis went down with a meniscus tear on November 16, they’ve gone just 5-17. In that span, Sacramento has allowed the fifth-most rebounds per game and posted the second-worst rebounding percentage. Arguably, the only risk is that the Kings’ rim protection is so bad that they won’t provide Davis with any offensive rebounding opportunities, but they’ve shot the ball poorly enough that Davis should be able to clean up on the defensive glass.
How to Play King of the Court
- Opt in to receive your King of the Court token in the Promotions page.
- Bet on an NBA Player Prop on DraftKings Sportsbook and apply your token (Minimum leg odds of -200 apply).
- If the player you wagered on with your token applied was the points, rebounds and assists leader that night, win a share of $1 million in bonus bets paid out the next day.
For more information on this promo, click here!
