The 2025 NBA Play-In Tournament continues on Wednesday with a pair of elimination games as the Chicago Bulls host the Miami Heat at 7:30 p.m. ET, followed by the Sacramento Kings hosting the Dallas Mavericks at 10 p.m. ET. All four teams have significantly different rosters for daily Fantasy basketball players to make NBA DFS picks from than they did at the beginning of the season with trades involving the likes of Anthony Davis, Zach LaVine and Andrew Wiggins. That led to these teams having enough success to make the play-in but in a challenging position to need to win two games to make the 2025 NBA playoffs. What’s the best way to construct a daily Fantasy basketball strategy, and who should compose your Wednesday NBA DFS lineups?
The NBA DFS Optimizer uses info from the SportsLine Advanced-Data Projection Model to identify top DFS picks for any daily Fantasy slate on places like DraftKings and FanDuel. It simulates every game 10,000 times to help DFS players optimize, export, and enter lineups confidently with injury updates, floor and ceiling player projections, and Vegas lines and picks all with one winning tool for sports betting apps. The SportsLine model has returned well over $10,000 for $100 players on its top-rated NBA picks over the past six-plus seasons.
Top NBA DFS picks for Wednesday, April 16
Domantas Sabonis ($10,500 on DraftKings, $10,000 on FanDuel)
The Kings power forward was third on Sacramento in scoring at 19.1 points per game while leading in rebounds (13.9 per game) and assists (6.0 per game). Sabonis led the NBA in rebounding for the third straight season and he’s had at least 11 rebounds in 11 of his last 12 games. Sabonis had 10 double-doubles and one triple-double during that span. Even after making acquisitions like LaVine and DeMar DeRozan since the end of last season, Sabonis remains vital to everything Sacramento does offensively.
Sabonis averaged 16.5 points, 15.5 rebounds and 7.5 assists over two games against Dallas this season with at least 16 points and 15 rebounds in each contest. Sabonis has averaged at least 18.5 points and 12 rebounds in each of his last six seasons as one of the most underrated consistent threats in the league. His high-floor nature is a strong asset for Wednesday NBA DFS lineups.
Kel’el Ware ($6,200 on DraftKings, $6,100 on FanDuel)
The No. 15 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft averaged 9.3 points and 7.4 rebounds over his rookie season and took on both a larger role and became more productive later in the year. The Miami center averaged 11.6 points and 9.3 rebounds over seven April games with three double-doubles over that span.
Ware had 12 points and seven rebounds over 25 minutes while going 6 of 9 from the field against the Bulls on April 9. The 7-foot center will be heavily relied upon to try and contain Bulls center Nikola Vucevic. Ware averaged 27.4 minutes per game in April compared to 22.2 minutes per game overall this season and he doesn’t come with a huge price for Wednesday NBA DFS picks on sites like FanDuel and DraftKings.
Keon Ellis ($5,000 on DraftKings, $5,300 on FanDuel)
The Sacramento guard won’t often be a leading contributor to cashing NBA DFS lineups, but his significant allotment of minutes provides massive opportunities to return value on his price. Ellis averaged 30.7 minutes over seven games in April after averaging 28.2 minutes per game in March as his role has increased since De’Aaron Fox was traded to the Spurs.
Ellis averaged 8.3 ppg this season, but he still can put together strong scoring outputs even with the Kings’ stars on the floor. He had 20 points on April 9 against the Nuggets with Sacramento’s big three all playing. Ellis has taken at least seven shots in three of his last five games and with a lower price compared to his higher amount of minutes, the Optimizer sees strong value in adding him to NBA DFS lineups.
Want more NBA picks for tonight?
You’ve seen some of the Optimizer’s top NBA DFS picks for Wednesday. Now, get the Optimizer’s full NBA DFS picks and projections for every player in the NBA DFS player pool at SportsLine.
You can also find expert NBA DFS advice from a daily Fantasy pro on SportsLine. Mike McClure, with more than $2 million in winnings, gives optimal NBA DFS lineup advice for Wednesday. Visit SportsLine now to see McClure’s top NBA DFS picks.
You can also view expert betting advice before making Wednesday NBA picks or player props. Visit SportsLine now to see expert Larry Hartstein’s picks from an expert who is 54-27 (+2009) over his last 81 NBA picks. He even has a player prop pick for Wednesday that could help you form NBA DFS lineups.
