The 2021-22 NBA season continues on Saturday and several players are already making big impacts for their new teams after being moved at the NBA trade deadline. Domantas Sabonis had a big debut for the Kings after being acquired from the Pacers last week, scoring 22 points, grabbing 14 rebounds and dishing out five assists in a Kings win on Wednesday. That could make him a popular option for NBA DFS lineups on Saturday as the Kings take on the Wizards, who will be without Bradley Beal (wrist) for the rest of the season.
However, it’s a loaded NBA DFS player pool and affording upper-echelon stars like Ja Morant, Joel Embiid, DeMar DeRozan and Stephen Curry means that you’ll have to make sacrifices elsewhere. So who are the affordable options for Saturday, and which stars have desirable matchups for NBA daily Fantasy action? Before finalizing 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 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 Hornets all-star guard LaMelo Ball as one of his top NBA DFS picks on both DraftKings and FanDuel. The result: Ball had 31 points, 12 assists, five rebounds and four steals. 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, February 12, 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, February 12
One of McClure’s top NBA DFS picks for Saturday is Suns forward Cameron Johnson, who is listed at $3,900 on DraftKings and $4,400 on FanDuel. The former lottery pick who played his college ball at Pitt and North Carolina is having his best season as a professional playing as part of Phoenix’s incredible bench.
Johnson is averaging 11.9 points and 4.3 rebounds per game while shooting a career-best 43.3 percent from the 3-point line. Johnson is coming off a strong performance in a dominant Suns win over the Bucks on Thursday, scoring 15 points, snatching eight rebounds and dishing out three assists. He should be in line for a lot of minutes on Saturday in a matchup against a Magic team that ranks 21st in the NBA in defensive rating (112.2).
Another part of McClure’s optimal NBA DFS strategy includes rostering Nuggets center Nikola Jokic ($11,700 on DraftKings and $11,300 on FanDuel). The reigning NBA MVP is having another monstrous season and he enters Saturday putting up numbers that are largely equal, and in some ways better, than last season.
Jokic is averaging 25.8 points, 13.7 rebounds and 7.9 assists per game, while shooting 57.5 percent from the floor and 37.1 percent from the 3-point line. He’s had a triple-double in two of his last three games and is now up to 15 total triple-doubles on the season and remains one of the highest-upside plays in NBA daily Fantasy.
How to set your NBA DFS lineups for Saturday, February 12
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.