Draftkings Best NBA Showdown Picks: Pelicans vs. Magic 11/8/24

The NBA presents a regular season matchup featuring the New Orleans Pelicans and the Orlando Magic. Let’s take a look at this game from a Draftkings perspective.

Before we dive into the New Orleans Pelican vs. Orlando Magic game let’s review the rules for Draftkings single game showdown contest.

Draftkings Single Game Showdown Contest Rules

You have $50,000 to utilize on five players from either team. However, one of those players will be designated as your team captain. The captain accumulates 1.5 times the standard fantasy points. Additionally, the captain is 1.5 times the standard cost of the flex position.

The remaining four players in your lineup will receive the standard fantasy points. Having stated that, it is highly important for you to identify the correct player for your captain position if you hope to win a large field DFS GPP (guaranteed prize pool) showdown contest.

If you have additional questions regarding the rules for the single game showdown contest, I recommend that you check out the Draftkings website for more details.

*I recommend that all readers review the starting lineups for both teams prior to setting your DFS lineup for this one game slate.

Here are my Draftkings picks for this evening’s Pelicans vs. Magic matchup.

Draftkings NBA Showdown Picks

Captain-Zion Williamson, Forward, New Orleans Pelicans $11,400

Pelicans forward Zion Williamson was the leader that the New Orleans Pelicans needed to advance to the NBA playoffs last season. Let’s take a look at Williamson’s game data from the 2023 NBA regular season to better shed light on my previous statement.

In the 70 games that Zion Williamson played for the New Orleans Pelicans in the 2023 NBA regular season, Williamson averaged a massive 22.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.7 blocks a game.

Now that we have ascertained how Williamson played in 2023, let’s shift our focus to this season. In the six games that Zion Williamson has played for the New Orleans Pelicans in the 2024 NBA regular season, Williamson averaged 22.7 points, 8.1 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 0.7 steals, and 1.2 blocks a game.

Last week, in the New Orleans Pelicans dominating 125-118 win over the Indiana Pacers, Zion Williamson certainly played at a high level. More specifically, Williamson compiled 34 points, six rebounds, ten assists, and two blocks in the Pelicans victory over the Indiana Pacers.

Earlier today, the New Orleans Pelicans officially listed Zion Williamson as questionable for tonight’s NBA regular season matchup with the Orlando Magic, Keep that in mind as you construct DFS lineups for this Draftkings NBA Showdown contest.

As I noted in the rules section above, selecting the correct player at the captain position for a Draftkings NBA showdown lineup is absolutely vital if you hope to win a large field GPP (guaranteed prize pool) DFS contest.

In my opinion, Zion Williamson is the most likely player to post the most Draftkings points in this evening’s NBA regular season game. For that specific reason, I am backing New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson at the captain position for this one game Draftkings NBA Showdown contest.

Flex Plays

Franz Wagner, Forward, Orlando Magic $10,200

In the nine games that Franz Wagner has played for the Orlando Magic in the 2024 NBA regular season, Wagner is averaging 18.8 points. 5.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.3 steals a game.

More recently, in the Cleveland Cavaliers dominating 120-109 win over the Orlando Magic six days ago, Franz Wagner played exceptionally well. Wagner compiled 17 points, eight rebounds, six assists, and one steal in the Cavaliers victory over the Magic.

Additional flex plays I like to play well this evening (Draftkings price noted): Brandon Ingram, Forward (New Orleans Pelicans) $10,800: Jalen Suggs, Point Guard (Orlando Magic) $9,400.