NBA DFS: Top DraftKings, FanDuel daily Fantasy basketball picks for Friday, October 25 include LeBron James

It’s only the first week of the 2024-25 NBA season but the Philadelphia 76ers‘ depth is being tested already. With Joel Embiid (knee) and Paul George (knee) both out on Friday for the second straight game, are there cheaper values for daily Fantasy basketball players to capitalize on in Philadelphia? Andre Drummond had 10 points and 13 rebounds on Wednesday versus Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks, so how should he factor into your Friday NBA DFS strategy?

Guerschon Yabusele, a Frenchman who garnered attention during an Olympic run that included a highlight-reel dunk over LeBron James in the Gold Medal Game, signed with the Sixers in August. He had 10 points and four rebounds over 26 minutes in his first NBA action since the 2018-19 season, so is he someone to consider for NBA DFS lineups against Scottie Barnes and the Raptors? 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. They’re a must-see for any NBA DFS player.

On Thursday, McClure highlighted Celtics forward Jayson Tatum as one of his top picks in his NBA DFS player pool on both sites. The result: Tatum had 25 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, returning 52.2 points on DraftKings and 49.2 points on FanDuel. Anybody who included him in their lineups was well on the way to a profitable day. 

McClure has turned his attention to NBA action on Friday and locked in his top daily Fantasy basketball picks. You can only see them by heading to SportsLine.

Top NBA DFS picks Friday, October 25

For Friday, one of McClure’s top NBA DFS picks is Lakers forward James, who is listed at $8,900 on DraftKings and $9,600 on FanDuel. The four-time NBA MVP didn’t have his typically statistically dominant performance in the Lakers’ opener as James finished with 16 points, five rebounds and four assists. Maybe some of that can be attributed to the pompous circumstances of opening night and playing with his son, Bronny James, to become the first father-son duo to play an NBA game together. So with Friday against the Suns being just another regular-season contest, we may see the James results daily Fantasy basketball players are used to.

James averaged 25.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game in his 21st NBA season last year. There are no signs of one of the greatest players of all-time slowing down yet after averaging at least 25 points per game for his 20th straight season and recording his most assists since the 2019-20 campaign. McClure expects a vintage James performance on Friday.

Another part of McClure’s optimal NBA DFS strategy includes rostering New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns ($8,000 on DraftKings and $7,700 on FanDuel). Towns had just 12 points, seven rebounds and three assists in his debut with the Knicks on Tuesday, but he played only 24 minutes due to the game quickly becoming a one-sided loss to the Celtics. The Knicks play their home opener on Friday, and you can be sure they’ll want to show off their key offseason acquisition in front of their fans at Madison Square Garden as Towns, a New Jersey native, returns to the Northeast.

Towns averaged 21.8 points and 8.3 rebounds last season as he has averaged at least 20 ppg in every season following his rookie year. He’s averaging 22.9 points and 10.8 rebounds per game over his 10-year career. The opponent Grizzlies are coming off a 27-55 season and allowed 124 points in their first game this season. McClure expects a bounceback performance from Towns in his New York City debut. See McClure’s other NBA DFS picks right here.

How to set your NBA DFS lineups for Friday, October 25

McClure is also targeting a player who could go off for massive numbers on Friday 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 Friday? 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.