Any effective NBA DFS strategy requires that you keep close tabs on roster updates so that you can score cheap talent in line for major minutes to free up salary cap space to spend elsewhere. On Saturday, the Bucks will be without their top four guards because they’re all in health and safety protocols, but they elected to go with a large lineup rather than relying too heavily on inexperienced options. Milwaukee will play Charlotte in a game where the total is the highest of the night (234.5) by a dozen points.
Meanwhile, Hassan Whiteside has actually been one of the more productive per-minute players in NBA DFS and he should be in line for a lot more minutes than normal with Rudy Gobert in health and safety protocols. So should you automatically be plugging Whiteside into your NBA DFS lineups, and who else should you be targeting in the NBA DFS player pool? Before locking in your NBA DFS picks for Saturday, 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 nearly $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 Friday, McClure included Nuggets center Nikola Jokic as one of his top NBA DFS picks on both DraftKings and FanDuel. The result: Jokic had 33 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, two steals and two blocks to return 66 points on DraftKings and 65.5 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 the Saturday, January 8 NBA DFS slate and locked in his top daily Fantasy basketball picks. You can only see them by heading to SportsLine.
Top NBA DFS picks for Saturday, January 8
One of McClure’s top NBA DFS picks for Saturday is Bucks center Bobby Portis at $6,500 on DraftKings and $5,500 on FanDuel. The former first-round pick of the Bulls bounced around a bit after spending his first three and a half seasons in Chicago but he seems to have found a home as a stretch five with the Bucks.
Portis is averaging career-highs in points (15.6), rebounds (9.0) and blocks (0.9) this season and has shot an impressive 45.4 percent from the 3-point line since joining Milwaukee. He’s coming off a massive night in a win over the Nets on Friday where he put up 25 points and 12 rebounds and an uptempo matchup with the Hornets on Saturday should give Portis the chance to get up plenty of shots again.
Another key in McClure’s optimal NBA DFS strategy includes stacking Portis with forward Giannis Antetokounmpo ($11,600 on DraftKings and $11,700 on FanDuel). The two-time NBA MVP is once again putting up sensational numbers, averaging 28.0 points, 11.4 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game while shooting 54.0 percent from the floor.
With guards Grayson Allen, Pat Connaughton, Jrue Holiday and George Hill all in health and safety protocols, Antetokounmpo will assume a lot of primary ball-handling responsibilities and that adds to his upside as a distributor in a game where the pace should be pretty rapid. He’ll have even higher triple-double potential than normal, and that makes him a worthwhile investment for your NBA DFS lineups.
How to set NBA DFS lineups for Saturday, January 8
McClure is also targeting a player who could go off for massive numbers on Saturday 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.
So who is DFS pro Mike McClure putting in his optimal NBA DFS lineups for Saturday? 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.