This article is part of our DraftKings NBA series.
Slate Overview
Boston (-2.5) at Miami (o/u 196)
Sunday will determine which of Boston or Miami will get the chance to face Golden State in the NBA Finals. Given that it's Game 7, it would be logical to believe the games have been competitive, but that really hasn't been the case. Four of the six matchups have been decided by more than 10 points, while the other two have been margins of eight and six.
Anyone still grinding DK contests likely is familiar with the showdown format. But just in case, the player in the Captain slot gets 1.5X points but is also valued at an increased rate. There are no positional designations as in traditional contests, instead the Captain slot is paired with five UTIL roster spots.
Injury Situations to Monitor
MIA - Gabe Vincent (hamstring), P.J. Tucker (knee), Max Strus (hamstring), Kyle Lowry (hamstring), Tyler Herro (groin): Questionable
The primary name to watch is Herro, because he's the only member of the Miami rotation who appears to be at any real risk of missing out. Max Strus would be the primary playing time loser if Herro is able to suit up for the first time since Game 3.
BOS - Marcus Smart (knee), Robert Williams (knee): Questionable
Both Smart and Williams are likely to play, though Grant Williams would be the likely beneficiary if Williams is sidelined. Smart being out would push Payton Pritchard into the mix, and open a really nice (but obvious) punt play.
Captain
Jayson Tatum ($16,500) and Jimmy Butler ($16,200) are likely to be the most commonly rostered players in the Captain slot. Tatum has shown the safer floor of the two having topped 50 DK points in four of the six games this series and 43 in one other. Butler has been slowed by a knee injury for parts of the series, but has also exploded for 72.75 and 81.75 DK. It's safe to say he's showcased a worse floor but higher ceiling than Tatum. Given that, I'd build around Tatum in cash games and Butler in tournaments.
Jaylen Brown ($14,700) would offer significant savings from either Butler or Tatum, but hasn't yet offered the safety or slate-breaking ability of either this series. I would consider Bam Adebayo ($12,600) if Robert Williams is surprisingly ruled out as he dominated Game 3, the same contest Williams was sidelined for (and Butler only logged 20 minutes). That's far too small of a sample to draw conclusions, but the discount that would come from selecting Adebayo is significant and we have a glimmer of elite production.
Utility
When using either Tatum or Butler as Captain, there's around an average of $6,700 to fill the five remaining slots. Moving down to Brown would leave around $7,000 and Adebayo roughly $7,500.
Derrick White ($6,200) is an obvious play based on recent form and is affordable regardless of the choice at Captain.
Either Tyler Herro ($5,800) or Victor Oladipo ($5,200) figure to be solid plays at their mid-tier salary points, though I'd pick one or the other based on the obvious factor of whether Herro can play. I don't see any scenario where I'd feel compelled to play both in the same lineup. A particularly sneaky option could be to go with Oladipo regardless of Herro's status with the idea the latter will either be ineffective or unable to play a meaningful role on Sunday.
Following that build would leave enough salary for either Al Horford ($7,600) or Kyle Lowry ($7,000), who are both second-tier options. Neither has consistently put up a lot of shots during the series, but Horford has been better at delivering peripheral stats. My preference is to find the salary in other areas to add him.
For Tatum/Butler builds, using this core would leave the option of filling the final two roster spots with a star and a punt play or two additional mid-level options ,with contest type likely dictating which path to follow. However, this is where the benefit of playing Brown/Adebayo in the Captain slot starts to take effect. When using either of those two, fitting in either Butler or Tatum becomes fairly realistic with the aforementioned names. And depending on news, the likes of Grant Williams ($4,800), Payton Pritchard ($3,600), and even Duncan Robinson ($2,400) could be used to fill out the rest of the lineup.
