DraftKings NBA picks January 11: Giannis is upon us

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Robert Covington #33 of the Minnesota Timberwolves reacts to a play during the game against the Portland Trail Blazers (Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images) /

DraftKings NBA early showdown picks:

The normal bench fodder is still out for both teams, but we do have to keep track of the status of Towns and Clint Capela. Capela’s heel has landed him back on the injury report. KAT hasn’t played since Christmas with a knee issue despite only being ruled out prior to game day once with no updates in between. It’s to the point now that I wont use Towns even if he plays because the price is still normal and he will likely be on a minutes limit.

I really like Capela if he plays whether Towns is out or not. There is enough value for Houston to go with Harden as the captain, but with Capela at captain we don’t have to use all of Tucker, House, and Gordon. Harden at captain leaves you just $5,500 per flex slot which means you have to play all three just to put in Culver and Teague.

If you don’t feel like waiting on the status of Capela, Robert Covington looks like a strong pick. He’s far more consistent than Minnesota’s three-headed monster of guards and doesn’t carry the risk of Eric Gordon. Aside from that, we still have $7,840 per flex slot so we can use Harden without putting too much strain on the lineup.

With Covington and Harden locked in, we only have $6,050 for each of the last four slots. That leaves out Westbrook and I feel like Wiggins is still a touch overpriced. Eric Gordon and Jeff Teague are the next safest, so putting them in there leaves $12,400 for the last two slots.

If Capela ends up out, I’ll pay up for Dieng and use Austin Rivers. This is one of the situations where it may be worth it. Otherwise, I may try Josh Okogie and Wiggins. Sticking with two more in the middle tier isn’t a high priority for me.