NBA DFS: Top DraftKings, FanDuel daily Fantasy basketball picks for December 31 include Desmond Bane

There are nine games on the NBA schedule on Saturday as we close the books on 2022, and eight of those contests will take place in primetime on New Year’s Eve. Those eight games will make up the NBA DFS main slate and a loaded NBA DFS player pool means you’ll have plenty of opportunities to create lineup variance and win big in NBA DFS tournaments, cash games and 50-50s on FanDuel and DraftKings. Luka Doncic will be back in action as the Mavericks take on the Spurs and you can expect to see a lot of exposure to the Slovenian star in NBA DFS lineups on Saturday.

Doncic is coming off back-to-back triple-doubles, including a 60-21-10 outing against the Knicks on Tuesday that netted a staggering 110.75 points on DK and 105.2 on FD. Based on current production, he’s even a bargain at his current pricing of over $12,000 on both sites, but if you are going to splurge on stars like Doncic, Joel Embiid or Ja Morant, you’ll have to find places to save salary-cap space elsewhere. Before locking in any 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 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 Friday, he highlighted Warriors guard Jordan Poole in his top NBA DFS picks for DraftKings and FanDuel. The result: Poole scored 41 points, dished out six assists and grabbed five rebounds to return 55.25 points on DraftKings and 49 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 Saturday and locked in his top daily Fantasy basketball picks. You can only see them by heading to SportsLine.

Top NBA DFS picks for Saturday, December 31

For Saturday, one of McClure’s top NBA DFS picks is Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley, who is listed at $5,700 on DraftKings and $6,700 on FanDuel. Quickley’s second-unit scoring has been critical for the Knicks this season but he’s moved into the starting lineup of late with Jalen Brunson (hip) out and his production has been impressive.

Quickley had 36 points, seven rebounds and seven assists while playing 43 minutes against the Spurs on Thursday and also had 13 points, 15 assists and three rebounds in 50 minutes of action against the Mavericks on Tuesday. And while he’s only made nine starts in 178 career games, he’s averaging 20.0 points, 5.2 assists and 3.8 rebounds when given that opportunity.

Another part of McClure’s optimal NBA DFS strategy includes rostering Grizzlies wing Desmond Bane ($6,700 on DraftKings and $6,100 on FanDuel). Bane has continued to see his minutes increase in the four games since returning from a toe injury that cost him nearly six weeks of the season. 

Bane had played 32 minutes or more in eight of his last nine games before the injury but has seen his minutes limited from 24-28 since his return. Now over a week removed from his injury, expect to see Bane starting to approach 30 minutes again. He is averaging 22.0 points per game for the season to go along with 4.5 rebounds and 3.9 assists per night.

How to set your NBA DFS lineups for Saturday, December 31

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.

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 over $2 million in career winnings, and find out.