Only two games dot the NBA schedule on Thursday, but there's value in the NBA DFS pool. Cleveland battles LeBron James and the Philadelphia 76ers, while Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets face Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Among the other top options for NBA DFS lineups include Tyrese Maxey, James Harden, DeMar DeRozan, Evan Mobley and Isaiah Hartenstein.
Jokic is the most expensive player on both DraftKings and FanDuel as the Nuggets and Cavaliers open their 2026-27 seasons. Knowing which players justify their high costs and knowing which are better kept our of daily Fantasy basketball lineups should be a part of your NBA DFS strategy. 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.
McClure has turned his attention to NBA action on Thursday and locked in his top daily Fantasy basketball picks. You can only see them by heading to SportsLine.
Top NBA DFS picks for Thursday, Oct. 22
For Thursday, one of McClure's top NBA DFS picks is Cavaliers forward Peyton Watson ($4,700 on DraftKings, $5,300 on FanDuel). Watson enters his fifth season in the league and first in Cleveland. In 54 games last year with Denver, including 40 starts, he averaged 14.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists. He also averaged 1.1 blocks in 29.6 minutes of action. See McClure's other NBA DFS picks right here.
McClure's also building around Thunder small forward Jalen Williams ($6,400 on DraftKings, $6,800 on FanDuel). The former No. 12 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft posted career highs in assists (5.5) last season, in addition to 17.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.2 steals. In the season opener, a 116-104 win over the Spurs, he scored 12 points and added seven rebounds and two assists in 30 minutes of action. See McClure's other NBA DFS picks right here.
How to set your NBA DFS lineups for Thursday, Oct. 22
McClure is also targeting a player who could go off for massive numbers on Thursday because of an optimal 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 Thursday? 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.
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