3 NBA DraftKings Studs to Target on 11/28/17

Nikola Jokic, C, Denver Nuggets

DraftKings Salary: $8,700

Ordinarily, Nikola Jokic against the Utah Jazz wouldn't seem like a situation we'd want to get exposure to, so hopefully some just skim over Jokic's name tonight because he is in a terrific spot. We're still fresh into the Paul Millsap-less look for the Denver Nuggets, but so far, the offense has run through Jokic. He's averaged 45.4 DraftKings points in three games since Millsap's injury, which is slightly skewed by a 30-point blowout loss in which he played just 26 minutes. The upside in his upgraded role was on full display in Denver's most recent game -- he was two assists away from a triple-double and finished with 58.25 DraftKings points in a tough matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies.

His production shouldn't as much of a surprise, as Jokic has seen the team's largest increase in his efficiency on a per-minute basis when Millsap has been off the court this season.

While most would expect the absence of Rudy Gobert to negatively affect Utah's defense, I don't know if anyone could have predicted how large of an impact it would have. Since the Gobert injury, Utah has posted a defensive efficiency of 109.9, which would rank dead last over the course of a full season. They also have just a 47.6% rebounding rate during that time, which would rank 24th. They're still playing at a remarkably slow pace, but this is far from the intimidating matchup we have grown accustomed to avoiding over the years.

Jokic should have no trouble against this depleted Utah frontcourt and is a terrific target in any format.