DraftKings NBA picks December 31: Sweet VanVleet

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Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) during an NBA game . (Photo by Jevone Moore/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

DraftKings NBA centers:

Best Bets:

Nikola Jokic ($9,300): Jokic put up 47 DraftKings points in the first meeting against Houston, and that was before he broke out of his early season slump. Capela was in the lineup too. I like this a little less if Capela plays, but this is still a pretty good matchup for Jokic. That said, so was the Kings and he was a bust on Sunday.

Clint Capela ($7,400): The rumbling out of Houston sound like Capela thinks he can play, but we wont know for sure until later in the day. If Capela is in, I like him in this matchup. He put up 39.75 DraftKings points in the first meeting with Denver. Capela is a hell of a lot safer than Jokic so long as the heel isn’t bugging him and he’s not on a minutes limit.

Honorable Mention:

Steven Adams ($6,600): After seeing the carnage that Chriss did to the Mavs up front, I kind of want to run Adams out there in spite of his disastrous outing against the Raptors. The Mavs are not the Raptors. I expect Adams to bounce back in a big way here. Defense isn’t exactly Porzingis’s forte.

Dwight Powell ($5,700): Powell has quietly put up some good numbers of late. He has six straight games over 20 DraftKings points and four straight over 25. Adams may give him some issues, but if Powell can pull this off against the Lakers’ front, I’m not all that worried about it. Powell could be a bit of a sneaky play here.

Dark Horses:

Isaiah Hartenstein ($5,400): Hartenstein put up 39.25 DraftKings points in 34 minutes with Capela out against the Pelicans. It could be a little tougher going against the Nuggets, and the $2,400 price hike is a bit much, but if Capela is out again, I can see Hartenstein still hitting 5x value. He likely wont top 30 DraftKings points in this one though.

Nerlens Noel ($4,300): Noel hasn’t played more than 20 minutes in quite some time, but he has at least 20 DraftKings points in seven of his last ten outings. Considering it was Chriss off the bench that took it to Dallas, Noel has a chance at another strong outing off the bench. He carries a little more risk than most value plays in this range tonight, but the upside is there.