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Free daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for today's slate on DraftKings and FanDuel. Use Kyle's NBA DFS expert picks to building winning DFS lineups on November 9th, 2025.
Welcome back, RotoBallers! We have a small four-game NBA slate tonight, leaving us with only eight teams to choose from on both DraftKings and FanDuel. These tiny slates can be fun, as it's easier to identify the best plays while the mid-tier and value picks become the key differentiating factors. This slate, in particular, is a weird one. The Thunder and Knicks look like the best spots to target, but there's blowout risk to consider, as they're both favored by double digits. We also don't have any "mega-ceiling" players, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander being the highest-priced star.
It's a Sunday, so anything is possible when it comes to teams giving players a rest day. That said, we don't have many injuries to monitor at the moment. Joel Embiid is the biggest name with a "Q" tag, while we'll also need to keep an eye on Santi Aldama, Isaiah Stewart, Jared McCann, Luguentz Dort, and Caris LeVert.
This article will provide you with my daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for DraftKings and FanDuel on 11/9/25. Remember to monitor NBA injury news and our awesome NBA injuries report tool, as the slate can completely change before lineups lock at 6:00 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
Tyrese Maxey, PHI - PG (DK $10.2K, FD $9.7K)
Deciding between SGA, Cade Cunningham, and Tyrese Maxey is going to be one of the biggest keys to the slate. They're the three highest-priced players, and as such, they give us the best chance at securing the #1 scorer on the slate. Let's save some money by getting to Maxey, who holds the highest DK PPG average on the slate at 57.5 DK points. He has exceeded 60 DK points in five of his nine games so far this season, while the reigning MVP and Cunningham have only had two 60+ DK point games this season.
A matchup with the Pistons isn't great on paper, as Detroit has allowed the fourth-least fantasy points per game while ranking third in defensive rating. However, Maxey has already put up excellent games against top defensive teams such as the Cavaliers, Celtics (twice), and Magic. This game should stay competitive as the Pistons are favored by 3.5 points, which means we should see a full complement of minutes from the star guard tonight. He gains about 2% usage (30% to 32%) with Joel Embiid off the floor, so he'd gain even more appeal if the big man gets ruled out.
Karl-Anthony Towns - C on DK, PF/C on FD (DK $8.7K, FD $8.4K)
Karl-Anthony Towns has hit a few bumps in the road early in the season, but we know he's fully capable of scoring 50-60+ DK points and obliterating his current salary. He needs 43.5 DK points for 5x value on DraftKings, and he has been at or over that mark in five of his eight games. He also has two 50-pointers and a 62.2 DK point outing in his game logs so far, with the latter coming against the most exploitable defense in the league, the Wizards, on 11/3.
Karl-Anthony Towns records his 7th double-double this season 🔥
That is the most in the NBA 👏 pic.twitter.com/6lyLUL5ugr
— ESPN Insights (@ESPNInsights) November 6, 2025
Well, he gets to face the second-most exploitable defense tonight. The Nets have allowed the second-most fantasy points per game overall, the fifth-most fantasy points per game to Cs, and rank last in defensive rating. They're allowing the fifth-most three-pointers made to Cs, which obviously fits what KAT brings to the table. Brooklyn also holds the worst rebounding rate in the NBA, while Towns is averaging a career-high 12.8 rebounds per game.
Jalen Duren - C (DK $7.9K, FD $7.7K)
Duren has graduated into "core picks" territory. The talented fourth-year big man is finally getting a shot at starter-level minutes, and he has taken full advantage. He has exceeded 50 DK points in three of his last four games, including a monster 22/22 double-double on 11/5 against the Jazz. He has the skillset to continue putting up a ton of points and rebounds for this Detroit team, particularly in favorable matchups like the one he has tonight.
Jalen Duren’s stats over the past six games:
20.3 points
13.2 rebounds
69.5 TS%Duren is taking a notable leap this season for the Pistons.pic.twitter.com/WHyJUYmZKo
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) November 6, 2025
The 76ers would clearly be a tougher matchup if we knew Joel Embiid was playing tonight. However, they rank 23rd in defensive rating this season, including the six games Embiid has been active. They rank 25th in defensive rebounding rate and 23rd in opponent blocks per game — these metrics are lining up nicely for Duren to have another smash game. Fire the ascending center up in DFS lineups.
NBA DFS GPP Pivots
Michael Porter Jr., BKN - SF on DK, SF/PF on FD ($7.2K DK, $7.5K FD)
MPJ has thrived in his new role as the 1A/1B option in Brooklyn next to Cam Thomas. He leads the team with 1.22 FPTS/min, and he has seen a significant step-up in usage rate this season to 29.1%. More importantly, he has been consistent (39.9 DK PPG) while flashing upside, as seen in his 53.2 DK points against the Pacers on 11/5.
He only needs 36 DK points for 5x value on DraftKings tonight, and that feels plenty attainable with the Knicks on tap. As always, they have a solid defense this season. However, they have shown a few cracks that a player like MPJ can exploit. Porter Jr. takes around 10 threes per game, which lines up perfectly with the Knicks allowing the highest 3PT% (37%) and second-highest 3PT makes per game (15.9) this season. As long as this game stays close enough for him to get to the 30-minute mark, MPJ should crush in this matchup.
Cedric Coward, MEM - SF on DK, SG/SF on FD ($5.5K DK, $5.4K FD)
Coward has flashed through 10 games in his rookie year, posting a 15/5.8/2.6 slash while shooting an excellent 43.6% from the three-point line. He's averaging a solid 29.5 DK PPG and has posted ceiling games of 45.5, 39.8, and 36.5 DK points already this season.
He's not a high-usage player at 19.1%, but his 1.11 FPTS/min rate is plenty high enough for him to exceed 5x value at his price tag tonight. The matchup against the Thunder is far from ideal, as they allow the fewest fantasy points per game and rank first in defensive rating. Since he's a rookie, Coward should see 28+ minutes even if the Grizzlies are getting blown out, which is a clear possibility given the Thunder's 10.5-point spread. Seeing minutes against the OKC bench unit would be a boon for his prospects, and it's a chance we should be willing to take on a small slate.
Derrick White, BOS - PG on DK, PG/SG on FD ($7K DK, $7.6K FD)
It's not sexy, but White looks like a great option on tonight's slate. He has been as steady as they come this season, exceeding 29 DK points in all but one game while scoring at least 32 in six of nine contests. He only needs 35 DK points to hit value tonight, and he has been over that mark in each of his last three games.
The veteran butters his bread with steals and blocks, of which he has accumulated 14 (!) over his latest three-game stretch. The Magic tend to turn the ball over, as they rank 21st in turnover rate at 16.4%. Notably, they're also allowing the second-most blocks per game, at 6.3. They've also allowed the third-most fantasy points per game to PGs this season, so it seems that everything is aligned for White to post a ceiling game in this one.
NBA DFS Value Picks
Trendon Watford, PHI - PF (DK $4.1K, FD $4.4K)
Watford is the top-value pick on the slate, at least until we get news of teams randomly sitting players for "rest" on a Sunday. The former Nets role player showed high upside with games of 39.2 and 32.8 DK points in early November, but that didn't come close to what he accomplished in his first start for the 76ers. He finished with a monster 62.8 DK point game on Saturday, putting up 20 points, 17 rebounds, 10 assists, and a block over 36 minutes of action against the Raptors.
In his 1st start for the @sixers... Trendon Watford drops his 1st career triple-double 🔥
🖤 20 PTS
🖤 17 REB (career-high)
🖤 10 AST (career-high)
🖤 8-10 FGMHe joins Nikola Jokić, Josh Giddey & Russell Westbrook as the ONLY players to record 20+ PTS, 15+ REB & 10+ AST in a… pic.twitter.com/g46goaNu0d
— NBA (@NBA) November 9, 2025
Philadelphia would be crazy not to continue starting him, so we should be able to bank on at least 30 minutes from Watford tonight. Is he going to notch another triple-double? No. Can he produce insane value at his bargain-bin salaries on both DraftKings and FanDuel? Absolutely, yes. The matchup is far from ideal, but that doesn't really matter when a player's projected output exceeds his price tag as much as we have with him tonight. Fire him up in all formats.
Ronald Holland II, SF on DK, SF/PF on FD (DK $4.9K, FD $4.4K)
This is ugly, but we have to do what we have to do on a tiny slate like this. Holland projects to step into the starting lineup with both Isaiah Stewart (doubtful) and Tobias Harris (out) injured. He started the second half of the last game after Stewart went down, and while he didn't do anything of note with his minutes, we have to assume he'll start and play heavy minutes tonight.
The second-year pro holds a solid 0.95 FPTS/min rate this season, which should translate well as long as he gets the 25-30 minutes we believe he'll get. The matchup against the 76ers isn't terrible, as they rank 23rd in defensive rating while allowing the 12th-most fantasy points per game. This is a "hold your nose and hope for the best" type of value play, but those are needed on slates like this.
Anthony Black, ORL - PG on DK, PG/SG on FD (DK $4.5K, FD $4.8K)
Value is scarce on this slate, so getting a player like Anthony Black correct could be a significant key. He's only $4,500 on DraftKings despite scoring 34.5 and 32.2 DK points in two of his last four games. He saw 33 and 31 minutes of playing time in those games, and he'll probably need to reach 30 minutes tonight to have a chance at hitting 5x value. However, he has an excellent opportunity to continue producing, as the Magic have limited starter Jalen Suggs to 21, 20, and 19 minutes over his last three contests.
The matchup against the Celtics isn't as bad as it seems, either. Boston ranks 12th in defensive rating, but they have allowed the league's eighth-highest 3PT% this season and rank poorly in rebounding rate (23rd) and OPP FTM (23 per game). Black isn't a sure thing, but he's a value option we can mix in on this small four-gamer.
Neemias Queta, BOS - C (DK $4.5K, FD $5.0K)
Queta is another interesting sub-$5K player on this slate. He needs just 22.5 DK points for 5x value, and he has scored 23.5, 43, and 24 DK points over his last three contests. He saw between 24 and 30 minutes of playing time during that stretch, which is a range where we can feel somewhat comfortable reaching him at his low salary. What're the Celtics going to do, give Luka Garza heavy minutes?
The frontcourt matchup should be in Queta's favor, too. Wendell Carter Jr. and Goga Bitadze aren't striking fear into anyone's heart defensively or on the glass, and Mo Wagner is out with an injury. Orlando ranks pretty well against Cs from a fantasy standpoint this season, but they've also allowed the third-most blocks per game to the position. Queta thrives in that area, averaging 1.4 blocks per game while spiking for 3-4 blocks on multiple occasions.
Today's Top NBA DFS Game Stacks
Nets @ Knicks (227.5 O/U)
Pistons @ 76ers (231.5 O/U)
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: Tyrese Maxey
- My favorite CASH play on the slate: Trendon Watford
- My favorite GPP play on the slate: Derrick White
- My favorite VALUE play: Trendon Watford
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