Tuesday will give us a crack at DraftKings' Showdown format, as the NBA Cup Final between New York and San Antonio is the only contest on the docket. I'll tinker with our NBA DFS optimizer and world-class NBA projections to narrow our sights, but let's first summarize how the Showdowns work.
If you are new to the format, the rules are relatively simple. You are allotted five Utility spots and 1 Captain spot. The Captain earns 1.5x of their final DKFP total, but the catch is that this player also costs 1.5x more than their listed utility salary. While conventional wisdom suggests that finding the high scorer for the top spot is the key to success, that is not always the case. We only have an average of $8,333 per spot to work with, and sacrifices must sometimes be made to achieve balance throughout your roster. We'll try to solve the puzzle and identify a few worthwhile avenues as we explore key options for the Spurs and the Knicks.
CAPTAIN SELECTIONS
NYK Jalen Brunson ($15,900 CPTN, $10,600 UTIL)
NYK Karl-Anthony Towns ($15,000 CPTN, $10,000 UTIL)
NYK OG Anunoby ($10,500 CPTN, $7,000 UTIL)
I will stick with the Knicks for the CPTN spot. Although Victor Wembanyama returned to action with a decent total, his CPTN salary is exorbitant and severely limits our UTIL options. You could say the same thing about Brunson and Towns, but they are $1,000-$1,600 cheaper than Wemby. While I'm sure the Cup title holds some importance for the Spurs, they are far more interested in keeping Wemby healthy than running him for 40 minutes in a game with no postseason implications. Meanwhile, Brunson and Towns are injury-free and are gunning for respect in the playoff race. I include Anunoby as a cost-saving measure, as his numbers since an injury have been balanced and worthy of consideration. He's a good example of a dark-horse candidate who can give us better numbers in the UTIL slots. Obviously, whichever player you choose, the other two will hold UTIL value.
Utility Selections
Based on our CPTN selections, you are left with averages ranging from $6,820 (Brunson) to $7,900 (Anunoby) to fill our utility spots. Based on that tier, a couple of players come to mind immediately.
NYK Mikal Bridges ($7,400 UTIL)
SAS Devin Vassell ($6,800 UTIL)
When grading the Spurs, it's essential to rewind our clocks and remember who produced with Wemby and Stephon Castle in the lineup. During that period, as well as their absences, Vassell has the steadiest floor. We can't really depend on guys like Luke Kornet anymore, but due to our salary constraints, we will have to dig deeper.
SAS Dylan Harper ($4,600 UTIL)
SAS Julian Champagnie ($4,400 UTIL)
I like Harper a little better than Champagnie due to Wembanyama's return, but you need at least one of these players to stay under the cap. Most of the Knicks are top-heavy, and I'm not interested in pivoting to Jordan Clarkson or Mitchell Robinson on that roster. The discounts are clearly with the Spurs. If we take one sample from each group, a couple of solid builds emerge:
CPTN Brunson, Towns, Bridges, Vassell, Harper, Champagnie
CTPN Anunoby, Brunson, Towns, Bridges, Vassell, Champagnie
WILDCARDS
SAS De'Aaron Fox ($13,800 CPTN, $9,200 UTIL)
NYK Josh Hart ($11,700 CPTN, $7,800 UTIL)
There's certainly justification for both players in either spot, but their inclusion would require excluding Towns or Brunson. In Fox's case, you're angling for a better day than Brunson, so he would be the likely exclusion in that instance. For Hart, it makes slightly more sense to oust Towns, and you would probably leave Anunoby off of your list as well. Here are some sample builds that include these players:
CPTN Fox. Towns, Hart, Anunoby, Vassell, Champagnie
CPTN Hart, Fox, Towns, Anunoby, Bridges, Harper
A decent combination of strategies:
CPTN Anunoby, Towns, Fox, Bridges, Hart, Champagnie
CPTN Vassell, Towns, Brunson, Anunoby, Bridges, Champagnie
Vassell emerges as an intriguing CPTN candidate with the ability to jam four Knicks into the mix. You could also start with the Vassell CPTN bid and swap Fox and Hart into the mix for Brunson, Towns, Bridges or Anunoby.
