Draftkings NBA Showdown Picks: Kings vs. Pelicans 12/12/24

Later today, the NBA presents Draftkings basketball fans with a regular season matchup featuring the New Orleans Pelicans and the Sacramento Kings. Let’s take a look at this game from a DFS perspective.

Before we dive into the New Orleans Pelicans vs. Sacramento Kings 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 Sacramento Kings vs. New Orleans Pelicans matchup.

Draftkings NBA Showdown Picks

Captain-De’Aaron Fox, Point Guard, Sacramento Kings $10,000

Point guard De’Aaron Fox has certainly been an essential part of the Sacramento Kings starting lineup this season. Having stated that, how has the talented Sacramento point guard played from a statistical perspective? Let’s take a look at Fox’s recent game data to better answer that question.

In the last 15 games that De’Aaron Fox has played for the Sacramento Kings in the 2024 NBA regular season, Fox is averaging 26.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, 6.1 assists, and 1.7 steals a game.

Looking the data just presented more closely, in the last 15 games that De’Aaron Fox has played for the Sacramento Kings this season, Fox is averaging a whopping 45.2 Draftkings points a game. It has to be said, those are the type of DFS numbers I need to see from a player that I select at the captain position for a Draftkings NBA Showdown contest.

More recently, in the Sacramento Kings convincing 120-111 win over the Houston Rockets earlier this month, De’Aaron Fox certainly played at a high level. Let me be more specific. Fox compiled 22 points, six rebounds, seven assists, three steals, and one block in the Sacramento Kings victory over the Rockets.

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 view, De’Aaron Fox 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 De’Aaron Fox at the captain position for this one game Draftkings NBA Showdown contest.

Flex Plays

Dejounte Murray, Point Guard, New Orleans Pelicans $9,600

In the eight games that point guard Dejounte Murray has played for the New Orleans Pelicans in the 2024 NBA regular season, Murray is averaging a robust 38.6 Draftkings points a game.

Five days ago, in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 119-109 win over the New Orleans Pelicans, Dejounte Murray played exceptionally well from a statistical perspective. Murray tallied 26 points, nine rebounds, five assists, and four steals in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.

Additional flex plays I like to play well (Draftkings price noted): Domantas Sabonis, Center (Sacramento Kings) $10,400: Brandon Boston Jr., Guard (New Orleans Pelicans) $5,400.