FanDuel NBA DFS Picks for Christmas Day (Wednesday 12/25/24): Daily Fantasy Basketball Advice

Christmas Day is for NBA basketball! If you're an NBA nut, I'm assuming you'll be tuning into the games to catch your favorite teams or players, and maybe to just track your fantasy teams or DFS lineups. Any way you slice it - Christmas Day basketball is delicious!

I recommend some higher-priced players for cash games and GPPs in today's edition while highlighting some of my favorite value plays and game stacks. If you want DraftKings picks, see who Zach Thompson likes by reading his piece here.

This article will provide my daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for FanDuel on 12/25/24. Remember to monitor NBA injury news and our awesome NBA injuries report tool, as the slate can completely change before lineups lock at noon EST on FanDuel. 

FanDuel NBA DFS Core Picks

Here's a quick look at the schedule for Christmas Day. The games are all spread out, so there's plenty of opportunity to tinker with your lineup even after the first game tips off at Noon. Some injury info may not even be out until after the first game starts, so I would recommend remaining as flexible as you can so you adjust those lineups in between opening presents and going back for seconds of ham (or turkey, or any of that delicious holiday food!)

Karl-Anthony Towns, NYK - C ($9,700)

Towns is averaging nearly 50 FD points per game, yet is still under 10k for some reason as FanDuel has been very slow to raise his price despite his fantastic start to the season.

Karl-Anthony Towns has recorded a double-double and made at least one three-pointer in each of his last 18 games.

Per @bball_ref, that is, by far, the longest such streak in NBA history.

The second-longest streak of 10+ points, 10+ rebs and 1+ made 3PT is just 12 games. pic.twitter.com/ef3CjPdNgJ

— Tommy Beer (@TommyBeer) December 24, 2024

The Knicks are nine-point favorites at home, but the Spurs are playing pretty well right now and could keep this game close enough to where we see Towns play minutes in the high 30s. Coach Thibs does not hesitate to play his starters heavy minutes in competitive games and while Wemby certainly has a defensive presence for the Spurs, they are still not a very good defensive team on the interior.

Using Towns means you'll have to fade Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid, but I think he's easily my favorite big man on the board at his price. He's been incredible lately, with two 20-20 games this month and 50+ FD points in five of his last six.

Bradley Beal, PHX - SG/SF ($6,800)

Clicking on Kevin Durant makes some sense, too, and you can certainly play him and Beal both together as they should pick up the scoring slack left behind by Devin Booker's absence in the lineup.

Beal has 20+ actual points in both of the games that Booker has missed over the last week but hasn't done much else in terms of passing or defensive stats. He will have to be very involved at both ends if the Suns expect to beat the visiting Nuggets and I like his chances of outperforming the 27 FD points he put up against them on Monday.

Beal is simply underpriced for his role without Booker and his eligibility at shooting guard and small forward makes it easy to build lineups around him.

Others Under Consideration: Kevin Durant - SF/PF ($9,600), Russell Westbrook - PG ($7,000)

FanDuel NBA DFS Tournament Pivots

LeBron James, LAL - SF/PF ($9,400)

It's Christmas Day, you have to play LeBron! I don't believe in narratives, but I do believe that LeBron is a showman who relishes the opportunity to play on national TV. His Lakers are probably not all that deserving of the featured matchup, but fans want to watch star players on the holiday slates and LeBron rarely lets down when it comes to entertaining his audience.

LeBron puts up 38/6/5 on Christmas Day in 2022 👑 pic.twitter.com/efSCEHlhKM

— Bron’s Best (@LBJsBest) December 24, 2024

From a sheet basketball standpoint, it's a good spot for LeBron, who feels underpriced here for his ceiling. He's gone for 57 and 55 FD points in his last two games and will have to act as the main facilitator on offense if D'Angelo Russell can't go. He had 11 assists in the loss to Detroit on Monday when Russell got hurt, and he has a history of bringing his best against his nemesis - the Warriors.

OG Anunoby, NYK – SF/PF ($6,600)

I'm not sure why OG isn't 7k or more because he's been simply fantastic for the Knicks most of the season, but especially over the last two to three weeks. He's fresh off a 46 FD point outing against his former team (Toronto) and has 30+ FD points now in seven of his last ten games.

Anunoby's scoring is going to vary greatly from day to day, but he consistently gets it done on the boards and on defense. His 2.7 blocks/steals per game is one of the better marks in the league and translates to nearly 9 FD points. He's averaging 17-5-2 this season and logging heavy minutes for the Knicks as one of their key glue guys.

If you want to get off Towns for another center, it makes sense to get some exposure to the Knicks through Anunoby. He brings as much upside as Josh Hart for a smaller salary and Mikal Bridges just doesn't do enough other than score to make me want to invest in him.

Devin Vassell, SAS - SG ($5,800)

Wing players have fared well against the Knicks this season, scoring the third-most FD points per game. Vassell is a key part of this Spurs offensive attack and while his game log resembles a rollercoaster lately, the peaks have been in the mid-30s which would be a result we would happily take from him at this price.

I like the idea of stacking some pieces of this early game as I think it could pop off and stay close, while some others (like Boston-Philly) could get ugly. Vassell is a bit too "boom-bust" for cash contests, but I love his potential at this price for tournaments.

Others Under Consideration: Kristaps Porzingis - PF/C ($7,900), Jaylen Brown - SG/SF ($8,100)

Want more NBA DFS tools and exclusive content? Check out our premium daily content from proven winner Will Priester! Grab an NBA season pass and get access to our daily projections, optimizer, Will's personal picks, props, advice, and VIP chat rooms. Use promo code THUNDERDAN at checkout to save 10%

FanDuel NBA DFS Value Picks

Daniel Gafford, DAL – C ($4,700)

Gafford is coming off a masterful 23 points and five boards in just 20 minutes against Portland and continues to produce very useable stat lines even in a timeshare with Dereck Lively. The Mavs will need both big men to contend with Rudy Gobert and if you want to punt the center position, Gafford is my favorite cheap target.

Trayce Jackson-Davis, GSW - PF/C ($4,600)

TJD has been rolling lately and was one of my favorite sleepers for fantasy hoops this preseason. The best part here for  DFS is that he is PF-eligible so we can still play an expensive center, too, if we want. Hopefully, he will keep seeing minutes in the 20s because he's a fantastic per-minute contributor - as evidenced by his 36 and 30 FD points in the last two games.

Naz Reid, MIN – PF/C ($5,100)

Naz has a few duds in the game log, but also some serious spike games like when he went for 33 FD points on Monday against Atlanta. The big man provides instant offense off the bench and when the team needs his shooting, he can steal minutes from Gobert or even close games if opponents go small.

Jrue Holiday, BOS – PG/SG ($5,200)

Holiday is about as cheap as he's been all season and coming off a really solid 35 FD point outing against Orlando in the loss to the Magic on Monday. No narratives here, but it certainly doesn't hurt to have a "Holiday" in your lineup on Christmas, right?

All kidding aside, the Celtics may lean on Holiday and the others in the supporting cast if Jayson Tatum is out.

Others Under Consideration: Max Christie, LAL - SG ($4,100), Donte DiVincenzo - PG/SG ($4,500)

My Favorite NBA DFS Picks for Today

Here is where I leave you with some of my favorites.

• My favorite OVERALL play on the slate: Karl-Anthony Towns
• My favorite CASH play on the slate: Karl-Anthony Towns
• My favorite GPP play on the slate: LeBron James
• My favorite VALUE play: Trayce Jackson-Davis

NBA DFS News and Injury Alerts

More DFS Lineup Picks and Analysis