NBA DFS: Top Daily Fantasy Expert Picks for DraftKings, FanDuel (4/19/25)

Free daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for today's slate on DraftKings and FanDuel. Use Dan's NBA DFS expert picks to building winning DFS lineups on April 19, 2025.

The first round of the NBA playoffs is finally here. The play-in tournament is over, and now we are set to start the first round series with games scattered across Saturday afternoon and evening. It's a great day to grill up some food and watch hoops all day long!

We have four games today, and these first few weeks of the playoffs, when we get plenty of three and four-game slates, are personally my favorite! I'll do my best to give you my core plays, some pivots for tournaments, and some value plays to help fit in multiple stars.

This article will provide my daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for DraftKings and FanDuel on 4/19/25. Remember to monitor NBA injury news and our excellent NBA injuries report tool, as the slate can completely change before lineups lock at 1:00 p.m. EST on DraftKings and FanDuel. 

• 2025 fantasy football rankings
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• Defense (D/ST) fantasy football rankings
• Kicker (K) fantasy football rankings
• Dynasty fantasy football rankings

Today's NBA DFS Core Picks

Tyrese Haliburton, IND - PG/SG ($8.3K DK, $9K FD)

I think there is a temptation to cram in at least one of the big three today (Luka, Giannis, and Jokic) into lineups, but I am not sure that is going to be the optimal build and I'm going to be focusing on some other superstars who might be a little underpriced.

Haliburton feels that way to me, especially at just $8300 on DraftKings. The Indiana offense runs through him, and we've seen him have some huge scoring nights this season and some insane assist totals.

Tyrese Haliburton has the MOST GAMES with 20+ points, 10+ assists and 0 turnovers (since TOs were tracked in 1977-78), with 14.

Next on the list:
Chris Paul (13 games)
LeBron James (12 games)
Tim Hardaway (12 games) pic.twitter.com/lCwxzY1JkA

— NBA (@NBA) April 18, 2025

And sometimes he scores and assists at a high rate, like the last time he faced the Bucks when he posted 24 points and 15 assists (as well as five steals) on his way to 65 DK points.

Playoff rotations get tight, and if we get close to 40 minutes of Haliburton tonight, I think he can smash this price tag. This Indy-Milwaukee game has the highest total on the board and these two teams have a history of some great, high-scoring, close contests in the past.

Kawhi Leonard, LAC - PF/SF ($8.4K DK, $5.9K FD)

I am excited that we get to see "Playoff Kawhi" this year. He's the healthiest that he's been in years and playing at a high level coming into this matchup with Denver.

I know there has been a lot of buzz about Aaron Gordon matching up on Kawhi and being a guy who could potentially slow him down, but I'm not buying into that hype. Gordon is a solid individual defender, but Denver has been a lousy defensive team all season, and I expect the Clippers to score plenty of points in this series.

This game is the other big total on the slate and one that is very stackable. Leonard has been regularly flirting with 50 DK points, which at this price is a great per-dollar value. He's a solid building block tonight for cash contests or a must-play piece of any Clippers-Nuggets stack.

Also consider: Giannis Antetokounmpo - PF/C ($11.2K, $11.8K FD)

Today's NBA DFS Pivots

Cade Cunningham, DET - PG ($9.4K DK, $10.2K FD)

I had to do a double-take on Cade's DK price. It's clear that DraftKings is intentionally pricing down some of the top players to allow us to build lineups a bit more easily. We were used to seeing Cunningham over 10k toward the end of the season, and his performance had earned him that price tag as he finished the year averaging nearly 51 DK points per game.

Like Haliburton, Cunningham is a lead guard who can score in addition to racking up double-digit assist totals. Cade is a much more natural scorer than Haliburton, who is more of a pass-first guy. Cunningham averaged 26 points per game this season, and at times put this Detroit offense on his back.

DETROIT'S MOTORCADE 🏎️

Cade Cunningham capped off his 2024-25 campaign with career-best numbers in scoring and playmaking, continuing to take his game to another level every year! pic.twitter.com/VUs3R7mKaE

— NBA (@NBA) April 17, 2025

He's had some huge games against the Knicks this season, who ended up being a much worse defensive team in 2024-2025 than they were last season. Cunningham had a triple-double (29-10-15) against New York back in December and has dropped 36 points on the Knicks in each of their last two meetings. He makes for a great 1v1 stack with Towns in this game.

Karl-Anthony Towns, NYK - C ($9.5K DK, $10K FD)

Nice segue, Dan! Yes, Towns feels a tad underpriced here, too, despite being priced right around where he usually was this season, and here's why.

His coach is Tom Thibodeau - the man who notoriously will play his starters 40+ minutes in the regular season. In the playoffs, do we think he's going to play them any fewer minutes? The Knicks' bench has been one of their biggest weaknesses this season, so I think we could see Towns, Jalen Brunson, and Josh Hart all play 40+ minutes in every game of this series.

Towns has a good matchup here, too, as he will face Jalen Duren. While Duren improved this season, he's still not a very good interior defender, and KAT is a tough guard for anyone with his ability to step outside and shoot the three.

This game has the second-lowest total on the board at 220.5, but I think it's very stackable, as we know exactly which pieces we probably want, and the players involved are likely going to play big minutes.

Also consider: Nikola Jokic - C ($11.8K DK, $12.6K FD)

Today's NBA DFS Value Picks

Kris Dunn, LAC - PG/SG ($3.5K DK; $4.3K FD)

Dunn can score 20 fantasy points without making a single bucket due to his ability to rack up assists and defensive stats. The Clippers value his defense and versatility so I expect him to play pretty regularly in this series. They don't need another high-usage player on the floor with Kawhi, Ivica Zubac, and James Harden already dominating the usage.

Aaron Nesmith, IND - SF/PF ($4.1K DK; $4.8K FD)

Nesmith can be a bit boom/bust in the box score, but he came on strong late in the year as one of the more reliable role players for the Pacers. His minutes were trending up towards 30 at the end of the season, and he doesn't need to do too much to pay off this cheap tag.

Naz Reid, MIN - PF/C ($5.1K DK, $5.5K FD)

Naz was a superstar for almost a month this season when he was moved into the starting lineup while Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert were out. Now he's back to his 25-minute bench role. I think he has some upside here as the Wolves could opt to play smaller if the Lakers play that way, too. Rudy Gobert is very vulnerable in the pick and roll, so Naz at center could give Minnesota more versatility on both offense and defense.

Also consider: Ryan Rollins - PG/SG ($4.8K DK, $4.7K FD), Donte DiVincenzo - PG/SG ($4.2K DK, Kevin Porter Jr. - PG ($4.3 DK only), Bobby Portis - PF/C ($5K DK only)

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 Haliburton
• My favorite CASH play on the slate: Kawhi Leonard
• My favorite GPP play on the slate: Cade Cunningham
• My favorite value play: Kris Dunn

More DFS Lineup Picks and Analysis