Best DFS Basketball Picks Including Rui Hachimura and 4 Others (October 21st, 2025)

The NBA season is back. It is crazy, it seems like just a few weeks ago, the Thunder won the title. The NBA has one of the shorter offseasons, but that is more so true for the teams that go all the way. Anyway, we are back tonight with a doubleheader of NBA games. The Thunder will raise their banner versus the Rockets. The Lakers will then host the Warriors in the late game. As the season is back, so is DFS basketball. Take a look of some of our best valued picks.

NBA GUARDS

Top Pick: Luka Doncic - FanDuel $11,700 | Draftkings $11,000

He is the top dog, but in a perfect spot to be played. LeBron James will be out to begin the season which elevates Doncic to his hybrid, lead role on this offense. It should run through him at all times. That makes him have tremendous value that can well exceed 5X despite his cost.

The Warriors were 5th best against PG's last season, but this against the general output of the entire NBA. Doncic is among the best offensive players there is and he has notably gotten in better shape which should in turn, elevate his game as the primary, high-usage option in LA.

Value Pick: Brandin Podziemski - FanDuel $5,700 | Draftkings $6,600

Draymond Green had a long answer on Brandin Podziemski’s desire to lead the team once him and Steph Curry retire.

“With him I say ‘Be careful.’ The more you tell people the more they use it against you... We believe that he’s going to be one of the guys that take the torch…” pic.twitter.com/0ELbcWQnGu
— Kenzo Fukuda (@kenzofuku) October 19, 2025

All signs point up for the third year guard. He made huge strides from his first to second year with drastic improvements in shooting above all. Podziemski can very well lead a scoring charge off of the bench. With Moses Moody out, he will surely have an elevated bench role. The Lakers were the 17th best defense in 2024-25 and should not get much better on paper. We can expect close to 25 minutes. If we can get double digit shots up, we look good.

NBA FORWARDS

Top Pick: Rui Hachimura - FanDuel $5,600 | Draftkings $5,500

We have an array for forwards in this slate that are out or banged up. This lands us with Hachimura. He matches up favorably against the Warriors. Kuminga drops down to the rim and as a bonus, he rolled his ankle the other day, perhaps limiting his efficiency on defense. Other than that, the Warriors lack size to lock down Hachimura. Last season, Hachimura averaged 17.7 PPG against the Warriors, above is usual scoring output.

Value Pick: Aaron Wiggins - FanDuel $3,900 | Draftkings $5,000

Aaron Wiggins is a key piece to the Thunder team that won the NBA Title last season. He is a versatile player and has shot extremely well as a depth piece. In fact, his career Field Goal Percentage is 50.2%. The Rockets have played very well versus opposing forwards, but Wiggins is one to be able to exploit it. If he gets hot, which he can, this can pay very well and is worth the minor matchup risk

We expect that the Thunder may get up in this game and that favors the playing time and efficiency of Wiggins should Houston enter a more risk free playing style. The Thunder are 7.5-Point home favorites as it stands.

Center

Top Overall Pick - Alperen Sengun - FanDuel $9,100 | Draftkings $9,200

Mini-Jokic comes into this game a very solid, reliable option. We see tougher matchups on paper, but Sengun has thrived well against the Thunder in the past. LAst season, Sengun scored 20+ points twice and 11+ Rebounds twice against the Thunder. In a game fueled more heavily than other, we can expect a nice evening from Sengun that can pay closer to the cost of an $11,000 player than a $9,000 player. Where there is a lot of depth at other position, we can leverage Sengun at center.