CJ McCollum is normally viewed as a sidekick to Damian Lillard in Portland, but McCollum will take on the lead role Sunday evening as the Trail Blazers face the Charlotte Hornets at 7 p.m. ET. Lillard (hamstring) has been ruled out, making McCollum an intriguing option for NBA DFS lineups. Norman Powell and Derrick Jones Jr. are among the other Portland players who could see their DFS value boosted.
That's one of five games on the NBA DFS main slate Sunday evening, with the action tipping at 7 p.m. ET. FanDuel is hosting a $300K Sunday Shot, while DraftKings has an NBA $300K Shootaround, among other NBA DFS tournament options for Sunday. Where are the best values in the NBA DFS player pool for this slate? Before locking in any NBA DFS picks for Sunday's action, be sure to see the NBA DFS advice, player rankings 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.
And on Saturday, McClure included Wizards guard Bradley Beal as one of his top picks. The result: Beal went off for 37 points, three rebounds and assists and a pair of steals, producing over 50 points on DraftKings -- his best total in the past month. Anybody who had him in their lineup was well on the way to a profitable day.
Now, McClure has turned his attention to the Sunday, April 18 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 Sunday, April 18
One of McClure's top NBA DFS picks for his Sunday NBA Daily Fantasy lineups is Hornets guard Terry Rozier at $8,300 on DraftKings and $7,500 on FanDuel. Charlotte is dealing with a lengthy injury list on Sunday. LaMelo Ball (wrist) and Gordon Hayward (foot) remain sidelined. Devonte' Graham (quad) and P.J. Washington (ankle) are both questionable.
That means the Charlotte offense will run largely through Rozier, who has combined for 49 points, 18 assists, 13 rebounds and five steals in his last two games. Add in the fact that the Hornets are taking on a Trail Blazers squad that ranks 27th in the NBA in scoring defense (115.5 ppg), and Rozier is a player worth building NBA DFS lineups around.
Part of McClure's NBA DFS strategy includes rostering Rockets center Kelly Olynyk at $6,300 on FanDuel and $6,800 on DraftKings. While Houston is going nowhere as a team, Olynyk has carved out a nice role from a Fantasy perspective after coming over in the Victor Oladipo deal in late March. Olynyk is averaging 18 points and 8.8 rebonds per game in April.
He scored 23 points against the Nuggets on Friday and dropped 25 against the Pacers on Wednesday. In total, he's been good for more than 30 points on DraftKings in seven of his last eight games, and he even hit 50 in that game against Indiana. Houston has eight players on its injury report, including two of its top four scorers in John Wall (rest/Achilles) and Eric Gordon (groin). That should lead to plenty of scoring opportunities for Olynyk, making him a logical choice as one of the top NBA DFS picks for Sunday.
How to set NBA DFS lineups for Sunday, April 18
McClure is also targeting a player who could go off for massive numbers on Sunday 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 Sunday? 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.
