With all 30 NBA teams in action on Monday as the league is taking off on Tuesday’s Election Day, daily Fantasy basketball players have ample ways to form an NBA DFS strategy. The Grizzlies were one of the most injury-plagued teams in the NBA last year, and it hasn’t been much better to start the 2024-25 NBA season. Impact options such as Desmond Bane (oblique) and Marcus Smart (ankle) are out, so Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. could be popular options from the NBA DFS player pool for Monday NBA DFS lineups against Cameron Thomas and the Nets.
Jaylen Brown (hip) is out for the Celtics as the defending NBA champions have one of the deepest lineups in the league, so could Brown’s absence make players like Payton Pritchard or Jordan Walsh valuable options to include at their prices 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 Wednesday (when McClure last made NBA DFS picks), McClure highlighted Hawks point guard Trae Young as one of his top picks in his NBA DFS player pool on both sites. The result: Young had 35 points, four rebounds, 15 assists and two steals, returning 68.5 points on DraftKings and 65.3 points on FanDuel to return strong value for 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 Monday and locked in his top daily Fantasy basketball picks. You can only see them by heading to SportsLine.
For Monday, one of McClure’s top NBA DFS picks is Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, who is listed at $10,000 on DraftKings and $10,300 on FanDuel. Tatum is third in the league in scoring (30.3 points per game) and will be asked to take on an even more offensive responsibility with Brown out. Tatum averaged 26.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 6.1 assists in 10 games without Brown last season. The 26-year-old has scored at least 25 points in six of seven games this year.
The Celtics play the Hawks, who have lost four of their last five games. Atlanta has allowed at least 120 points in five of seven games this season and allowed the second-most points (120.6 ppg) in the NBA last season. Tatum scored more than 30 points in two of three games against the Hawks last year in what should be a strong matchup and opportunity for him to be added into Monday NBA DFS lineups.
Another part of McClure’s optimal NBA DFS strategy includes rostering Pistons point guard Cade Cunningham ($8,500 on DraftKings and $8,700 on FanDuel). The No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft is averaging 24.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 6.9 assists this season. He increased his scoring and assists in each of his first three seasons and is coming off averaging 22.7 points and 7.5 assists per game last year.
The Pistons play the Lakers, who have allowed at least 125 points in back-to-back games. Los Angeles ranked 22nd in scoring defense (116.7 ppg) last season and is tied for 25th at 119 ppg this year. Cunningham hasn’t had much scoring success over his career against the Lakers (13.8 ppg), but he’s averaging 8.5 rebounds and six assists in four games against the team. He’s led the Pistons in scoring in five of seven games, and McClure expects a quality performance from the 23-year-old budding superstar on Monday. See McClure’s other NBA DFS picks right here.
McClure is also targeting a player who could go off for massive numbers on Monday 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 Monday? 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.