NBA DFS, 2026: Top FanDuel, DraftKings picks, lineups, advice for Thursday, Jan. 1, from a daily Fantasy pro

There is a limited five-game NBA regular season schedule on New Year's Day, which begins at 6 p.m. ET and has the last tip at 10:30 p.m. ET. Cade Cunningham, Tyrese Maxey, James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, Anthony Davis and Joel Embiid are among the most expensive options in the NBA DFS player pool. Jusuf Nurkic (foot), Kevin Love (undisclosed), Zach LaVine (ankle), Caris LeVert (knee) and Kelly Oubre Jr. (knee) are among those who are out for tonight.

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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 Clippers small forward Kawhi Leonard at $9,600 on DraftKings and $9,600 on FanDuel. He's also building around Clippers point guard James Harden ($9,100 on DraftKings, $9,100 on FanDuel), who is coming off a 21-point, five-assist and three-rebound effort in a 131-90 win over Sacramento on Tuesday. He had 34 points and six assists in a 119-103 win at Portland on Dec. 26.

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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