Daily Fantasy Basketball: NBA DFS Picks for DraftKings, FanDuel (1/16/26)

January 16, 2026

Free daily fantasy sports picks for today's slate NBA DFS slate on DraftKings and FanDuel. Use Max's NBA DFS lineup picks to building winning DFS lineups on January 16th, 2026.

Welcome back, RotoBallers! Tonight, we have a 6-game slate of NBA games, highlighted by the doubleheader on ESPN of Cavaliers at Sixers, and Timberwolves at Rockets. Note that both DraftKings and FanDuel are both not including the Timberwolves at Rockets and Wizards at Kings on the main slate. For this article, I will only feature players in games on both sites. Whichever site you're playing on, there are plenty of good DFS fantasy basketball options to consider. These articles focus on the best overall plays, which are typically more suited to cash games. However, some exceptions may apply, depending on the size of the slate.

As always, watching the injury report updates will be critical to finalizing your strategy. Some big names, such as Josh Giddey, Darius Garland, RJ Barrett, and Bennedict Mathurin, are already confirmed out, while Kawhi Leonard, Joel Embiid, and Paul George are all questionable due to injury management. There are many more players out, and there will undoubtedly be players who pop up on the injury report tomorrow, or even get ruled out, so keep a close eye on the NBA injury news and make adjustments as needed.

This article will provide you with my daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for DraftKings and FanDuel on 1/16/26. Remember to monitor NBA injury news and our awesome NBA injuries report tool, as the slate can completely change before lineups lock at 7:00 p.m. EST on FanDuel and DraftKings. To keep up with all the latest developments and get access to updated projections, grab an NBA season pass and also gain access to our RotoBaller Premium Discord, where our experts are talking about the slate up until lineups lock!

NBA DFS Core Picks

Donovan Mitchell, CLE - SG (DK $9.6K, FD $9.6K)

Mitchell is about as easy a click as it gets when starting to build a lineup. He just scored 61.25 fantasy points in the same matchup two nights ago, and tonight, he's likely to shoulder an even larger role on offense. With the Cavs missing both Darius Garland and Sam Merrill, who both exited Wednesday's game early, that leaves their 18 combined shot attempts (10 of which were from 3) vacated. Mitchell sits fourth in the NBA in usage rate at 32.5%, and I would expect that number to be closer to the 38-40% range tonight, assuming he plays a full game.

Surprisingly, SG appears to be the strongest position tonight. This means the gap between the top end and value plays might not be as vast as usual. However, Mitchell has by far the best floor/ceiling combo on the slate tonight, which gives him the edge as tonight's top play.

Donovan Mitchell scored from all three levels in the @cavs road victory!

🕷️ 35 PTS
🕷️ 7 REB
🕷️ 9 AST
🕷️ 5 3PM pic.twitter.com/xywlrEiFWM

— NBA (@NBA) January 15, 2026

Trey Murphy III, SG - NO ($8.1K DK, $8.1K FD)

Murphy has quietly established himself as the top dawg in New Orleans. Over his last six games, he's been absolutely on fire, scoring more than 60 fantasy points twice. In that span, he's averaging 31.7/7/4.2, on 27.1% usage rate, while playing 37 minutes per game. When you do all the math, that equals out to 51.8 fantasy PPG.

Trey Murphy III in 2026:

27-8-5 (72% TS) at MIA
42-5-3 (70% TS) vs LAL
35-8-4 (69% TS) at WAS
21-7-6 (66% TS) at ORL
31-5-2 (77% TS) vs DEN
34-9-5 (68% TS) vs BKN

31.7 PPG (70.1% TS), 7.0 RPG, 4.2 APG

— Brett Usher (@UsherNBA) January 15, 2026

Those caliber of numbers will put a player in cash game conversations at pretty much any price. When that player in question is only $8.1K, and playing in the best game environment of the night, you're fading him at your own risk.

NBA DFS GPP Pivots

Tyrese Maxey, PG - PHI ($9.7K DK, $10K FD)

Maxey had a disappointing game on Wednesday in the first Cavs/Sixers game, posting his second-lowest fantasy output of the year. Maxey has been Philly's top offensive option this year, and I expect him to continue seeing heavy workloads; he leads the NBA in minutes per game and is 14th in usage rate at 29.4%.

Maxey's biggest appeal from a tournament perspective is the leverage he will provide off Donovan Mitchell, as he costs $100 more. Even if Joel Embiid and/or Paul George were to miss tonight's game, Mitchell still will likely be more owned, although the gap between the two would obviously shrink.

Brandon Ingram, SG - TOR ($7.8K DK, $8K FD)

Ingram has been a rock for the surprisingly good Raptors, who currently sit 4th in the East. He leads them in scoring with 21.9 PPG, and has only scored less than 36 fantasy points once in his last 14 full games. The Raptors will be without their second and fourth-leading scorers in RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley again, and without them, Ingram led the charge in a win against the Pacers on Wednesday.

Ingram surprisingly sits tied for 19th in usage almost halfway through the season. Last game, his usage rate spiked to 30.5%, which would tie him for 12th overall with Nikola Jokic. The biggest knock on Ingram tonight is his game environment, and it's stinky 215.5 implied total. That should keep his ownership in check compared to Mitchell & Murphy. He has an excellent floor/ceiling combo, and on a slate this small he could definitely be in consideration for cash games as well.

BRANDON INGRAM TONIGHT:

30 POINTS
7 REBOUNDS
4 ASSISTS
12/23 FGM
3/6 3PM
36 MINUTES pic.twitter.com/IqsX2zFnfG

— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) January 15, 2026

NBA DFS Value Picks

De'Andre Hunter, CLE - SF/PF (DK $5.1K, FD $4.2K)

Hunter broke out of a two-game funk on Wednesday and helped fill the scoring void that Garland and Merrill's absences accounted for. Hunter is solidified as the Cavs' bench scoring threat, and he should see a healthy amount of minutes tonight after the Cavs were able to rest their key guys for a good chunk of the 4th quarter last game. Jaylon Tyson is more likely to start over Hunter, and the choice is pretty close to a 50/50, but I slightly lean towards Hunter due to the likelihood that he has more offensive sets run for him to score comparatively.

Johnny Furphy, IND - SF (DK $3.9K, FD $4.2K)

Furphy has started the last six games in a row for the Pacers with Bennedict Mathurin out injured with a thumb sprain. During that stretch, he's posted 20+ fantasy points four times and is coming off the best game of his career. He's recorded 5+ rebounds in all six of those games, giving him a decent floor. He's a cheap starter in the premier game on the slate, which is exactly what we look for in DFS.

Today's Top Game Stacks

Pelicans at Pacers (238.5 O/U)

This game has the highest implied total on the slate and has all the makings of a bad-teams-shootout with the league's two worst teams facing off. The most expensive player in the game is only $8.7K, and other than Trey Murphy, no other players' projected ownership is at outlier levels of high.

Cavaliers at Sixers (235.5 O/U)

This will be the most popular game on the slate tonight, largely due to the injuries on the Cleveland side. Should either Embiid or George miss the game, it will separate them from the others in terms of total overall ownership.

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: Donovan Mitchell
• My favorite CASH play on the slate: Donovan Mitchell
• My favorite GPP play on the slate: Tyrese Maxey
• My favorite VALUE play: De'Andre Hunter

NBA DFS News and Injury Alerts

More DFS Lineup Picks and Analysis