The Chicago Bulls made the postseason for the first time since 2017 last year but an 8-15 finish after the All-tar break soured any good news. The Bulls will now open their 2022-23 NBA season on Wednesday night against the Heat but they'll be without Lonzo Ball (knee) and Zach LaVine (knee). Does that mean that you should be increasing your exposure to DeMar DeRozan in NBA DFS lineups? Or should you look elsewhere for value in the NBA DFS player pool?
There will be 24 of the league's 30 teams in action on Wednesday and total hunters will be particularly interested in Rockets vs. Hawks with the over/under set at 233. So which players have the best matchups in Wednesday's NBA DFS player pool? Before making any NBA DFS picks for Wednesday, 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 over $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 and create optimal lineups that he shares only over at SportsLine. They're a must-see for any NBA DFS player.
On Tuesday, he highlighted Lakers forward LeBron James as one of his top NBA DFS picks on both DraftKings and FanDuel. The result: James produced 31 points, 14 rebounds and 8 assists to return 61 points on DraftKings and 54.8 points on FanDuel. Anybody that included him in their lineups was well on the way to a profitable day.
Now, 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 19
For Wednesday, one of McClure's top NBA DFS picks is Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, who is listed at $10,300 on DraftKings and $11,600 on FanDuel. Jokic has been the NBA MVP in each of the last two seasons and he'll kick off his quest for a three-peat against the Jazz on Wednesday night after the squad dismantled their roster and traded away Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert.
Jokic shot a career-best 58.3% from the floor in 2021-22 and averaged 27.1 points, 13.8 rebounds, 7.9 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.9 blocks per game. He's produced an absurd 70 triple-doubles in the last five seasons including a career-high 19 last season. Now he'll take on a Jazz defense without Gobert to protect the rim. Lock him in your NBA DFS lineups and look for a big return against Utah.
Another part of McClure's optimal NBA DFS strategy includes rostering Spurs point guard Tre Jones, who is listed at $4,200 on DraftKings and $5,100 on FanDuel. The former Duke star has played in 106 games and started 12 times while averaging 13.4 minutes per contest over the last two years.
However, he's about to see a massively expanded role after the Spurs traded Dejounte Murray to the Hawks this offseason, freeing up Jones to start at point guard. Jones is an efficient albeit reluctant scorer who prefers to play the role of facilitator and averaged 3.4 assists per game in just 16.6 minutes on average. He'll be the player that the ball runs through on Wednesday against the Hornets.
How to set your NBA DFS lineups for Wednesday, October 19
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 almost $2 million in career winnings, and find out.
