NBA DFS: Top DraftKings, FanDuel daily Fantasy basketball picks for Wednesday, Apr. 17 include Dejounte Murray

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On Wednesday, one team will punch its ticket to the 2024 NBA playoffs, and one team will see its season end when the 2024 NBA Play-In Tournament continues. Heat vs. 76ers at 7 p.m. ET will see the winner claim the No. 7 seed in the East, while Bulls vs. Hawks at 9:30 p.m. ET will see one team stay alive and another team going home. The teams are loaded with top NBA DFS picks who have been fixtures in daily Fantasy basketball lineups all year long. Joel Embiid, Jimmy Butler, DeMar DeRozan and Trae Young are just some of the stars sure to be highly coveted from Wednesday's NBA DFS player pool.

Embiid has been his usual MVP self since returning from his injury, with averages of 30.4 points, 9.2 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.2 blocks across the five games. Embiid faced Miami just two weeks ago, and the Heat's elite defense kept him under 30 points with a season-low of four rebounds. Given the high NBA DFS prices for Embiid on sites like FanDuel and DraftKings, should that somewhat-muted production be reason enough to keep the reigning MVP out of Wednesday's NBA DFS lineups? Before making your NBA DFS picks, be sure to check out the NBA DFS advice, player rankings, stacks, and top daily Fantasy basketball picks from SportsLine's Mike McClure.

McClure is a DFS professional with more than $2 million in career winnings. He's also a predictive data engineer at SportsLine who uses a powerful prediction model that simulates every minute of every game 10,000 times, taking factors like matchups, statistical trends and injuries into account.

This allows him to find the best NBA DFS values and create optimal lineups that he shares only over at SportsLine. They're a must-see for any NBA DFS player.

On Tuesday, McClure highlighted Pelicans forward Zion Williamson as one of his top picks in his NBA DFS player pool on both sites. The result: Williamson had 40 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, returning 65.25 points on DraftKings and 63.7 points on FanDuel. Anybody who included him in their lineups was well on the way to a profitable day.

McClure has turned his attention to NBA action on Wednesday and locked in his top daily Fantasy basketball picks. You can only see them by heading to SportsLine.

Top NBA DFS picks for Wednesday, April 17

For Wednesday, one of McClure's top NBA DFS picks is rostering Hawks PG/SG Dejounte Murray, who is listed at $8,800 on DraftKings and $8,200 on FanDuel. Murray is coming off a stellar season in which he averaged a career-high of 22.5 points to go along with 6.4 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 1.4 steals. He also logged 20 doubles -- more than twice as many as the eight he had last year -- as he took on more distributing responsibilities when Young was sidelined. With Young back, Murray can operate more as a scorer and he dropped 32 points in the final regular season game.

Murray has scored exactly 17 points in each of his last four games against the Bulls, but he's also combined for at least 10 rebounds plus assists in each of those. Playing off-guard favors him in this matchup more so than running the point, considering Chicago struggles more versus two-guards. The Bulls are a top-four defense against opposing PGs in terms of Fantasy points allowed on both DraftKings and FanDuel, as opposed to being in the middle-of-the-pack against SGs. Thus, Murray is a better option than Young for tonight and is justified as the most expensive SG on both sites.

Another part of McClure's optimal NBA DFS strategy includes rostering Bulls SF/PF DeRozan ($8,400 on DraftKings and $9,200 on FanDuel). The six-time All-Star enters the play-in tournament on fire, with four straight games with at least 30 points. He's averaging 33.3 points over this span and filling up the box score by adding 5.8 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 1.8 steals.

The veteran is no stranger to the play-in tournament, as this will be his fourth such game. He's scored at least 20 points in each of his previous three, and of those two with the Bulls, DeRozan averaged 24.5 points on 50% shooting, with 6.0 assists and 5.5 rebounds. The 34-year-old also has the Hawks' number, as he has at least 20 points in each of his last 16 games versus Atlanta. With a positive matchup history, along with proven results in these types of atmospheres, you can see why McClure is high on DeRozan. See McClure's other NBA DFS picks right here.

How to set your NBA DFS lineups for Wednesday, April 17

McClure is also targeting a player who could go off for massive numbers on Wednesday because of a dream matchup. This pick could be the difference between winning your tournaments and cash games or going home with nothing. You can only see who it is here.

Who is DFS pro Mike McClure putting in his optimal NBA DFS lineups for Wednesday? Visit SportsLine now to see optimal NBA DFS picks, rankings, advice, and stacks, all from a professional DFS player who has over $2 million in career winnings, and find out.