Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Wednesday, December 17th

by Taylor Smith (tcsmith031) Last Updated 2025-12-18 00:43:01 Premium Content Part of the product NBA DFS

A daily fantasy sports OG, Notorious has been roaming the DFS streets ever since they were invented. He has racked up multiple live final seats and several six-figure tournament wins in his DFS career. On weekends, Taylor Smith takes the reins. So, who better to walk you through the madness of an NBA DFS slate? Core Plays LIVE will zoom out on the slate as a whole, zoom in on the best plays, and constantly update as news breaks. Whether you are diving into the slate 5 hours before it starts or 5 minutes before it starts, you’ve come to the right place.

At long last, another Emirates NBA Cup has come and gone. Congrats to the New York Knicks, who defeated the dastardly San Antonio Spurs en route to the franchise’s first trophy of any kind since 1973. Success has been elusive for this team ever since I’ve been alive, and I think it’s a likable bunch. They should go on to win the East given the state of the rest of the conference, but we’ll see what happens.

As for tonight, the NBA isn’t exactly roaring back. We’re looking at a small 2-game slate with both games tipping off at 8 PM ET. We do have some big names on the injury report, though, so perhaps it’ll be a bit more interesting than your typical 2-gamer. Let’s dive in.

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NBA DFS Top Picks: Core Plays LIVE for Wednesday, December 17th

Slate Overview

• Slate size – 2 games
  - 8:00 pm ET – Cleveland Cavaliers at Chicago Bulls
  - 8:00 pm ET – Memphis Grizzlies at Minnesota Timberwolves
• NBA DFS Optimizer
• NBA Starting Lineups
• NBA Injury Report
• Scroll to FanDuel and DraftKings Rankings & Core Plays

News Updates

Here’s where I’ll provide news updates.

Team Previews

Cleveland Cavaliers (at CHI)

The Cavs get the tastiest matchup on tonight’s slate against a fast-paced and dreadful Bulls team. Chicago is just 5-15 since their hot 5-0 start, which is a distant memory at this point. Cleveland’s 123-point total is the highest on the slate, though they’re only favored by 4.5 points in this one on the road. While the Cavs recently got Jarrett Allen back from a finger injury, they also just lost Evan Mobley for the next few weeks with a calf strain. Larry Nance Jr., Max Strus, and Sam Merrill are still out as well.

Allen logged just 23 minutes in his return over the weekend after missing a few weeks. We’re only projecting him for 25 in this one, though the matchup against Chicago is terrific for bigs. The Bulls are yielding the 3rd-most points in the paint per game after finishing last in that department a season ago. On a small slate, you can make a case for Allen (1.25 FP/minute) as a passable midrange play. Mobley’s absence significantly increases usage for both Darius Garland (+10.7%) and Donovan Mitchell (+7.2%). Garland has played pretty poorly for most of the year amid his own injury issues, but this is a strong matchup, and that’s a huge usage boost without Mobley. Mitchell (1.57 FP/minute) has just crushed with Mobley off the floor all season. Even pushing $10,000 on both sites, it’ll be hard not to play tons of Mitchell on this slate.

We’re projecting Dean Wade to draw another start next to De’Andre Hunter in the frontcourt in Mobley’s place. Jaylon Tyson still logged 35 minutes off the bench in the last game, though that includes 5 minutes of OT. Wade is cheap but has only averaged 0.71 FP/minute this season with Mobley off the floor. Hunter (0.81) and Tyson (0.97) are easier sells, even at more expensive salaries. If you’re looking for some cheap value on the Cleveland side, you can do worse than Lonzo Ball, who should see low-to-mid-20s minutes off the bench. Ball’s averaging a solid 0.91 FP/minute on the year, and maybe he’ll feel a little vengeful here going up against his ex-club.

Chicago Bulls (vs. CLE)

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