DraftKings NBA picks December 25: Jokers and Kings wild

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Giannis Antetokounmpo #34 of the Milwaukee Bucks dunks against the Dallas Mavericks (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /

DraftKings NBA Small Forwards:

Best Bets:

Giannis Antetokounmpo ($11,300): If x=30 or more, then y=60 or more with x=minutes for Giannis and y=DraftKings points. If he plays 30. he’s going for at least 60. This should be a close game against Philly. I wouldn’t be shocked if Giannis played 35 minutes and flirted with 80 DraftKings points. If Giannis starts terrorizing opponents on Christmas the way LeBron has, then maybe the guard really is chaning. Until then, LeBron is still the King.

LeBron James ($9,900): LeBron and Christmas Day just go together. The King had a rough Christmas debut with the Lakers last year, suffering a third quarter injury which left him out of a while afterwards. That was about the time the Lakers imploded. LeBron has that swagger back, and he’s looking to establish his dominance in L.A. against the Clippers. I think he has a big day here.

Honorable Mention:

Brandon Ingram ($7,700): Ingram continues to put up strong stat lines alongside Holiday. This isn’t a great matchup against the Nuggets. I tend to think the guards dominate this game on both sides, mostly because the guard defense is weaker on both teams. Ingram is still going to put up a solid line, but I don’t think he clears 40. If we’re spending this kind of money, we can likely do better.

Tobias Harris ($6,700): I’ll be honest. Harris wasn’t really on my radar until he went berserk against Detroit on Monday. Simmons thrives as a distributor, and maybe Embiid wasn’t himself, but it was impressive none the less. The Bucks have been awful up front, so I don’t expect another massive game from Harris, but with his price this low, he should give us something good.

Dark Horses:

Damion Lee ($5,400): Lee is getting a ton of minutes with Draymond disinterested in Big Dog III battling injuries. This team can use all the scoring it can get alongside Russell, and Lee has shot at least 40% from the floor in five of the six games since rejoining the rotation. I mentioned the other night that the price wasn’t too high to scare me off. Now it might be, especially on a night where it’s packed at the top.

Wes Matthews ($4,000): The struggles of DiVIncenzo have led to more minutes for Matthews again. We will see how long that lasts. Still, Matthews has 58.25 DraftKings points over the last two games. If he’s going to continue playing about 30 minutes per game, Matthews is a steal at this price.