DraftKings Salary: $10,800
The Golden State Warriors are slowly getting healthy, as Kevin Durant and Draymond Green are both probable heading into this one. However, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are still out, so Durant should carry the bulk of the scoring load.
With both Splash Bros off the court, Durant has a ludicrous 42.4% usage rate this season and has seen his DraftKings points per minute spike from 1.38 to 1.65. At this salary, Durant needs 54 DraftKings points to hit value (5 points per every $1,000 in salary), which he could do in just under 33 minutes at a rate of 1.65 DraftKings point per minute.
As long as there are no injury restrictions, KD should have no issue pushing for 33 minutes, as this game is expected to remain competitive throughout. The shorthanded Dubs are 5.0-point favorites against a Milwaukee Bucks squad that is fighting to hold onto a playoff spot. The over/under is 215.5 points, which normally wouldn't stand out but is quite appealing on this five-game slate. No other game has an over/under of even 210.0 points, so this is clearly the strongest game script on the slate.
We aren't spoiled with standout value plays like we have been the past few slates, so it may be hard to pay all the way up for Durant, Russell Westbrook ($11,400), or Giannis Antetokounmpo ($10,600). If you are able to free up that much salary, though, Durant is the clear top target of that trio. Feel confident targeting him in either format.