Graded · 5 contests · 235,828 entries

NBA Oct 21 DraftKings ownership: Main slate

What the field actually played on the NBA Wed Oct 21 DraftKings Main slate, next to what we projected before lock. Our misses are shown in full.

October 21, 2026 · Updated October 21, 2026 · After The Timeout

11 games · classic

The slate at a glance

Sport
NBA
Site
DraftKings
Format
Classic
Games
11
Teams
22 teams
First lock
Wed Oct 21, 7:00 PM ET
Player pool
216 players
Projections
Captured Wed Oct 21, 6:07 PM ET, before lock

Top 12 by real ownership

The chalk: who the field played most

Field ownership is the share of lineups that used each player, from 5 large-field tournament contests, 235,828 entries. Gap is the field minus our projection: green means the field played him more than we expected.

Some field numbers read low. Part of the real ownership here comes from a results source that counts each player in one roster slot only, so a player the field used in more than one slot can show less ownership than he really had.

Ours vs the field, 5 large-field tournament contests, 235,828 entries
PlayerPosOursFieldGap
Dennis SchroderCHAPG6.4%49.8%+43.4
Ty JeromeMEMPG/SG11.1%41.7%+30.6
Anthony DavisWSHPF11.7%40.5%+28.8
Darius GarlandLACPG7.6%34.3%+26.8
Grayson AllenCHASG/SF11.4%29.9%+18.5
Kawhi LeonardTORSF13.4%28.3%+14.8
Giannis AntetokounmpoMIAPF13.4%27.2%+13.8
Domantas SabonisSACC8.3%23.0%+14.6
Draymond GreenGSPF/C7.2%21.9%+14.7
Jaren Jackson Jr.UTAHPF/C11.3%21.3%+10.0
Luka DoncicLALPG11.0%18.8%+7.8
Isaiah JacksonLACC5.8%16.5%+10.7

10 players where we were furthest off

Our biggest misses

We publish these on purpose. The players the field played far more than we expected, and the ones it passed on.

The field played him more than we projected
PlayerPosOursFieldGap
Dennis SchroderCHAPG6.4%49.8%+43.4
Ty JeromeMEMPG/SG11.1%41.7%+30.6
Anthony DavisWSHPF11.7%40.5%+28.8
Darius GarlandLACPG7.6%34.3%+26.8
Grayson AllenCHASG/SF11.4%29.9%+18.5
The field played him less than we projected
PlayerPosOursFieldGap
Ja MorantPORPG/SG20.2%4.9%−15.3
Jonathan KumingaMINSF/PF11.6%1.8%−9.9
Alperen SengunHOUPF/C12.2%2.8%−9.4
Zach LaVineSACSG/SF11.0%1.7%−9.2
Devin BookerPHXPG/SG10.8%2.7%−8.2

Large-field tournament contests · n = 228 players

How our projections held up

We compared our projected ownership with the real field for 228 players across 5 large-field tournament contests (235,828 entries). On average our number was 3.2 percentage points away from the field's. On the 21 players at 10% ownership or more, the average gap was 14.0 points.

3.2 ptsaverage gap, ours vs the field (228 players)
0.53correlation with real ownership, 1.00 is a perfect match (n = 228)
14.0 ptsaverage gap on the 21 players at 10%+
5large-field tournament contests, 235,828 entries
The grade by contest type
Contest typeContestsEntriesPlayersAvg gapCorr
Large-field tournament5235,8282283.20.53
Small-field or limited-entry tournament23,3792283.70.47

We grade a contest type once it has at least 2 contests. Cash games are not used to grade tournament ownership.

What these numbers mean

Average gap is how far our projected ownership sat from the real field, in percentage points, averaged over every player compared. If we had a player at 20% and the field played him at 26%, that player adds a 6-point gap.

Correlation measures whether we had the order right: who the field would play most and least. 1.00 would be a perfect match and 0 would be no relationship at all.

Players compared covers our whole player pool plus anyone the field used that we did not have in it.

The 8 contests behind these numbers
ContestGroupEntriesFeeMax entries
NBA $400K Zone Special [$100K to 1st]large-field tournament95,124$5-
Contest 196981126large-field tournament71,343-150
Contest 196981572large-field tournament29,726-20
Contest 196981125large-field tournament23,781-20
Contest 196981122large-field tournament15,854-20
Contest 196981570small-field or limited-entry tournament2,378-1
NBA $2 Double Upcash1,149$2-
NBA $800K Mega 8's Special [$200K to 1st]small-field or limited-entry tournament1,001$888-
How our fantasy point projections held up

Across 216 players, our point projections missed by 7.8 fantasy points on average (7.9 on players who scored), with a correlation of 0.76 against what they actually scored.

Biggest point misses
PlayerOursActualGap
Ty JeromeMEM33.666.8+33.1
Anthony EdwardsMIN39.172.0+32.9
Josh GiddeyCHI41.217.2−24.0
Yves MissiNO25.449.0+23.6
De'Anthony MeltonGS29.66.5−23.1
By position
PosPlayersAvg missBias
C418.9−2.9
PF209.8+1.1
PF/C187.3−0.7
PG268.4−1.4
PG/SF38.2+4.8
PG/SG259.6+0.7
SF165.8+1.2
SF/PF216.0−0.0
SG137.6−0.1
SG/SF335.8−0.5

Before the next lock

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