Gary Trent Jr. made a name for himself as a spark plug scoring threat off the bench for Portland before being traded to Toronto at the deadline last season. This year, Trent is making field goals at the highest rate of his career (44.6 percent), and hitting a respectable 36 percent of his 3-point attempts. What has given him extra value in NBA DFS lineups has been his work on the defensive end. Trent leads the league in steals, and is averaging 2.4 per game — far and away the highest mark as a pro.
On Friday, Trent faces off against the Sacramento Kings, who have given up the most points to opposing shooting guards on sites like DraftKings and FanDuel. Opponents take an average of 8.4 steals per game from the Kings, so between his scoring (23 points per game over his last four) and his defense, Trent could emerge as great value in Friday’s NBA DFS player pool. 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 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 Thursday, McClure listed Nuggets center Nikola Jokic as one of his top NBA DFS picks on FanDuel and DraftKings. The result: Against Philadelphia, Jokic had his second consecutive 30-point game and he added 10 rebounds with seven assists to return 57.5 points on DraftKings and 54.5 points on FanDuel. Anybody that included him in their lineups was well on the way to a profitable day.
Now, McClure has turned his attention to the Friday, November 19 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 Friday, November 19
Jokic is one of McClure’s top NBA DFS picks for Friday as well, at $12,000 on DraftKings and $11,300 on FanDuel. The Nuggets play the Chicago Bulls on Friday, who allowed Portland to ring up 50 points in the paint on Wednesday. Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic finished with 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting, so Jokic should be able to find some space around the basket on offense.
In two meetings with Chicago last season, Jokic averaged 36.5 points per game, his highest average against any single opponent. Not that Nikola Vucevic is a great defender, but he is still unavailable for Chicago as he continues to comply with the league’s health and safety protocols. With little resistance around the rim, Jokic should come away with another big offensive performance.
Another part of McClure’s optimal NBA DFS strategy includes rostering Dallas Mavericks point guard Jalen Brunson ($6,500 on FanDuel and $6,700 on DraftKings). Brunson has been on a strong run of play since the beginning of November, and hasn’t let up. He’s scored at least 17 points in each of his last three games, and had 18 on Thursday with nine rebounds and nine assists against Phoenix on Wednesday.
The Mavs return to action against the Suns again on Friday, and Luka Doncic is listed as doubtful (knee, ankle). With Doncic likely on the shelf, Brunson should have an increased role in the offense yet again. Opposing point guards have averaged 7.75 rebounds per game against the Suns, and if Brunson can replicate Wednesday’s success on the glass, he should finish with another strong Fantasy day.
How to set NBA DFS lineups for Friday, November 19
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.
So 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 almost $2 million in career winnings, and find out.
