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The (fake) NBA season keeps chugging along with another simulated basketball Showdown on DraftKings. This time we’ve got the San Antonio Spurs vs. the Phoenix Suns on Sunday afternoon to indulge in. Let’s take a look at how to construct the best lineup possible. Here’s a link to the contest and be sure to check out the rules before entering a lineup.
Captain’s Picks
There isn’t much separation between the top option (Devin Booker; $15,900) and the mid-range (Ricky Rubio; $11,400). I lean Rubio in this situation because of the salary savings we’ll need to fit in 3-4 of these players overall. Rubio has a safe floor given the rebounding and assist totals. Booker’s box scores are consistently higher but he’s also $4,500, which is money we can use to grab another stud player. Rubio’s ceiling games aren’t much different than Booker’s. I just like the value of Rubio in the Captain’s spot as opposed to paying up for Book or DeMar DeRozan ($14,700) or LaMarcus Aldridge ($13,800).
FLEX Options
I think we still need to try and fit in Booker ($10,600), which may be a bit difficult to squeeze. If we’re going to want to get 3-4 of these high-priced guys in there, we need some value. This will be a bit tricky and I think there’s also a decent argument for Captaining somebody on the cheap side as well.
Jakob Poeltl ($2,400) has played a decent amount of games for the Spurs this season and his box scores are mostly on the down side. That isn’t to say the majority of them aren’t reaching value at this price point. We aren’t looking to move the world with a Poeltl play, just grab enough salary to get another high-upside play.
If we then get Poeltl in there, that opens up a nice mid-range play before we choose between LMA, DeRozan or Deandre Ayton ($8,600). If you don’t Captain Rubio, now may be the time to play him in the UTIl spot at $7,600. Bryn Forbes ($6,800) is really the only guy I like in the mid-range. He’s played 63 games and 62 of those are starts this season. Most of these games include double-digit scoring and multiple 3-pointers, which is enough to trust him at nearly $7K.