To celebrate the opening week of the NBA regular season, DraftKings will be running it’s popular King of the Court promo on tonight’s 11-game NBA slate. Users who opt have the chance to split $5 million in bonus bets by placing a player prop bet on the DraftKings Sportsbook on the player who ultimately leads that night in total points, rebounds and assists.
Seems simple enough, right? Why wouldn’t you just place a bet and use your token on the highest usage option on that slate and call it a day? Well, the bonus bet split is smaller depending on how popular the player is with the betting public, so there could be some value in taking a contrarian approach. That means no Luka Doncic, Giannis Antetokounmpo or Cooper Flagg picks in this article.
With that in mind, here are a couple under the radar King of the Court picks for Wednesday night’s basketball action.
King of the Court Value Picks
Brandon Miller, Charlotte Hornets
It’s never an apples-to-apples comparison when you’re using last season’s statistics, but I do want to quickly remind people of the highest usage players on the Hornets at the end of 2025-26. Coby White and LaMelo Ball were up above 32%, while Brandon Miller, Kon Knueppel, Tre Mann and Miles Bridges rounded out the other key rotation pieces above a 20% rate. Where are they now? Well, Ball was traded to Minnesota, Bridges was traded to Phoenix, and Mann was traded to Washington. White (calf) and Knueppel (hamstring) remain on the roster, yet both are injured to start the season. That just leaves Miller. In the 254 minutes that the former second-overall pick logged without Knueppel, Ball and Bridges on the floor last season, Miller registered a jaw-dropping 46.0% usage rate. Per 36 minutes, that massive role translated out to 31.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists. Miller seems primed for the “star leap” in 2026-27, and with Charlotte’s current injury woes, tonight could be the first big “I’m him” performance on that journey.
Associated Prop Bet: Brandon Miller 25+ Points (-120)
Darius Garland, Los Angeles Clippers
I don’t think I have to bring most people up to speed about the Clippers situation heading into the new season, but for anyone living under a rock, Kawhi Leonard is back in Toronto. In fact, of the six leading scorers for Los Angeles in 2025-26, only Darius Garland remains. Add in injuries to Brandon Ingram (Achilles), Bradley Beal (knee) and Max Strus (foot), and you’ve got the makings of a pretty grim roster. However, Garland should be 100% healthy and over his nagging toe issue from last year, and I’d expect his usage rate to be very similar to the 29.8% rate he put up in his first 19 contests in a Clippers uniform. Heck, given his surroundings, Garland might even be one of the league’s most heliocentric guards. Matchup matters here, too. For as bleak as things seem for Los Angeles, vibes aren’t much better in Sacramento. The Kings already gave up 120.3 points per 100 possessions last season, and now it appears they’ll be operating at a much more frenetic pace. In the team’s five preseason tilts, Sacramento averaged a whopping 106.6 possessions per 48.
Associated Prop Bet: Darius Garland 32+ Points + Assists (-119)
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 $5 million in bonus bets paid out the next day
For more information on this promo, click here!
