After four teams opened their 2024-25 NBA seasons on Tuesday, another 20 teams will take the floor for the first time in the 2024-25 season and it's the first time since April 30 that daily Fantasy basketball players have more than two games to choose from when making NBA DFS lineups on sites like FanDuel and DraftKings. The Wednesday NBA DFS player pool is filled with stars in familiar places like Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo, along with notable players in new homes like Tobias Harris (Pistons), Buddy Hield (Warriors) and Dejounte Murray (Pelicans).
How should players making their regular-season debuts for new teams affect your NBA DFS strategy? Harris averaged 17.2 points per game with the 76ers last year, but never truly lived up to his max contract in Philadelphia, so could a change of scenery and playing in Detroit boost his value for NBA DFS lineups? Before making any NBA DFS picks, be sure to check out the NBA DFS advice, player rankings, stacks, and top daily Fantasy basketball picks from SportsLine's Mike McClure.
McClure is a DFS professional with more than $2 million in career winnings. He's also a predictive data engineer at SportsLine who uses a powerful prediction model that simulates every minute of every game 10,000 times, taking factors like matchups, statistical trends and injuries into account. This allows him to find the best NBA DFS values on sites like DraftKings and FanDuel and create optimal lineups that he shares only over at SportsLine. They're a must-see for any NBA DFS player.
On Tuesday, McClure highlighted Knicks guard Miles McBride as an under-the-radar play and one of his top picks in his NBA DFS player pool on both sites. The result: McBride had 22 points and two assists on 8 of 10 shooting, returning 26.5 points on DraftKings and 24 points on FanDuel to provide value to NBA DFS lineups. Anybody who included him in their lineups was well on the way to a profitable day.
McClure has turned his attention to NBA action on Wednesday and locked in his top daily Fantasy basketball picks. You can only see them by heading to SportsLine.
Top NBA DFS picks for Wednesday, October 23
For Wednesday, one of McClure's top NBA DFS picks is rostering Bucks forward/center Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is listed at $11,000 on DraftKings and $11,600 on FanDuel. Antetokounmpo is coming off back-to-back seasons averaging more than 30 points and 11 rebounds per game as one of the most dominant players in the league. He's finished top five in NBA MVP voting in each of the last six seasons, including winning two MVP awards. The 29-year-old is probable for Wednesday as he deals with right patella tendinitis that may cause him to rest some more games this season, but the season-opener is not one he'll want to miss.
Antetokounmpo is averaging 28.2 points and 13 rebounds over his last five season openers as he's entering with plenty of rest and energy from the offseason. The Bucks open up against the 76ers for the third straight season, but the 76ers will be without Joel Embiid (knee) and Paul George (knee). Antetokounmpo will have plenty of opportunities to dominate and McClure expects a strong start to the season for the eight-time All-Star.
Another part of McClure's optimal NBA DFS strategy includes rostering Raptors guard Immanuel Quickley ($7,200 on DraftKings and $7,900 on FanDuel). Quickley averaged 18.6 points and 6.8 rebounds over 38 games after being traded to the Raptors last season. The 25-year-old should be a happy man this year as he locked in a five-year, $175 million contract this offseason to become one of the faces of the franchise and the Raptors will be asking a lot from Quickley to justify that contract.
Toronto will need even more from Quickley from the very start with RJ Barrett (shoulder) out. The Raptors will also be without Kelly Olynyk (back), who was the fourth-leading returning scorer from last season. Quickley averaged 20.1 ppg in nine games without Barrett last season and McClure expects Quickley to remain aggressive and show off why he's making $35 million a season on Wednesday. See McClure's other NBA DFS picks right here.
How to set your NBA DFS lineups for Wednesday, October 23
McClure is also targeting a player who could go off for massive numbers on Wednesday because of a dream matchup. This pick could be the difference between winning your tournaments and cash games or going home with nothing. You can only see who it is here.
Who is DFS pro Mike McClure putting in his optimal NBA DFS lineups for Wednesday? Visit SportsLine now to see optimal NBA DFS picks, rankings, advice, and stacks, all from a professional DFS player who has over $2 million in career winnings, and find out.
