NBA DFS, 2025: Top FanDuel, DraftKings picks, lineups, advice for Thursday, Dec. 18, from a daily Fantasy pro

There is a 12-game NBA regular season schedule on Thursday, which begins at 7 p.m. ET and has the last tip at 10 p.m. ET. Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Cade Cunningham, Jalen Johnson, Nikola Jokic and Victor Wembanyama are among the most expensive options in the NBA DFS player pool. Trae Young is listed as available for Atlanta and is expected to return on Thursday after missing the last 22 games with a knee injury.

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Before making any NBA DFS picks on sites like DraftKings and FanDuel for this slate, you need to see what Mike McClure has to say.

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 at SportsLine. They're a must-see for any NBA DFS player.

For Thursday, one of McClure's top NBA DFS picks is Lakers center Jaxson Hayes at $3,500 on DraftKings and $3,800 on FanDuel. He's also building around Lakers point guard Luka Doncic ($12,000 on DraftKings, $12,500 on FanDuel), who is coming off a 29-point and six-assist effort in a 116-114 win at Phoenix on Sunday. He had a triple-double with 31 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists in a 112-108 win at Philadelphia on Dec. 7.

McClure is also targeting a player who could go off for massive numbers on Thursday! This pick could be the difference between winning your tournaments and cash games or going home with nothing. You absolutely need to see who it is before locking in any lineups.

What are the top NBA DFS picks for Thursday? ... Join SportsLine now to see DFS pro Mike McClure's top picks, stacks, and player pools for FanDuel and DraftKings, and cash in BIG on NBA DFS!

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