NBA Best Bets & Player Props December 23: Victor Wembanyama To Crash The Boards
The Sacramento Kings absolutely destroyed the Phoenix Suns yesterday and in doing so, Domantas Sabonis only recorded three rebounds in the second half. Not to worry, as the column once again ‘Meat Loafed’ it, winning two of three. When the winners are double unit wagers, the earnings are twice as nice. Almost two units were gained yesterday, and the goal is to keep the betting momentum going with a loaded NBA Saturday lineup of thirteen games. The first game today is a nationally televised game on NBATV with a 12:30 PM ET tipoff as Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks host Damian Lillard and the Milwaukee Bucks. The best bet features a double unit wager on this matchup. At 7:10 PM ET the Orlando Magic play the Indiana Pacers in a battle of top eight Eastern Conference teams. Fantasy Alarm takes a look at a Tyrese Haliburton line that seems off the mark. There are also several teams playing in back-to-back games tonight, the Dallas Mavericks are one of them. Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs play against the Mavericks, and there is a prop bet that receives a double unit wager in this game.
BET OF THE NIGHT: MILWAUKEE BUCKS ML; TWO UNITS (-130 DraftKings Sportsbook)
As mentioned in this column before, the great Hubie Brown stated, ‘The most difficult game in a stretch of road games is the first home game’. The New York Knicks are finishing up a tough road stretch in which they won three of five games, and granted their last road game was at Brooklynn and similar to a home game… except it was not against the Milwaukee Bucks and it was not at Madison Square Garden. Giannis Antetokounmpo is probable for the match and will be a problem for the New York Knicks. The Bucks will have all of their starters active and rested for this match, and score 124.4 points per game, almost ten more than the Knicks. Oddly enough these two will play again on Christmas Day, which is the NBA’s longest standing tradition. It will be the 76th year the NBA has played a Christmas game, and it has been an unofficial ‘beginning of the season’ prior to this year and the In-Season Tournament. Tonight look for Damian Lillard, Khris Middleton, Giannis the Great, Brook Lopez, and Malik Beasley to be too much offense for the New York Knicks to keep up with. Double unit afternoon delight.
VICTOR WEMBANYAMA OVER 11.5 REBOUNDS; TWO UNITS (-130 BetMGM)
The Dallas Mavericks are playing in back-to-back games, will be without starters, and are a continual bankroll builder for Fantasy Alarm NBA Best Bets. They are simply an awful rebounding team, allowing the third most rebounds to opposing teams in the Association. The San Antonio Spurs allow the fourth most, but the Mavericks currently have six players still listed as out or day-to-day. Even with that, they still have a large spread in their favor, -7. Dereck Lively is the Mavericks only good rebounder, and although Victor Wembanyama only had five rebounds against the Chicago Bulls in his last game, he has recorded double-digit totals in every other game this month. He has gone over this line in all but two games this month, and the Mavericks will not have an ability to keep Victor Webanyama away from the defensive glass. This game could be really close, and V. Wembanyama could play more minutes to help earn the twelve needed rebounds. Put two units on the rookie to rebound against their Southwest Division rival.
TYRESE HALIBURTON - UNDER 27.5 POINTS (-115 DraftKings Sportsbook)
Tyrese Haliburton could be the starting point guard for the Eastern Conference in the All-Star game, he is playing that great this season. However since the In Season Tournament, his points have been on a drastic decline. He is also questionable to play tonight with an ankle sprain, but he did play over thirty-seven minutes against the Memphis Grizzlies two days ago. Should he play tonight he could be on limited minutes or taken out in a blowout. Since beating Milwaukee in the In-Season Tournament, he has one game over twenty points and zero above twenty-three. The Orlando Magic allow the seventh fewest points to point guards, and have the length to give T. Haliburton difficulties scoring. The assumption is that he plays tonight, and if he does this line seems like a done deal. If he does not play we will get our money back, so no loss.
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Thank you for reading.
Bet Smart, Be Lucky - Iggy
*All Bets to be placed at 1 unit unless specified otherwise
Player News
Spotrac’s Keith Smith reports the Bucks waived Chris Livingston.
Livingston, the 58th overall pick in the 2023 draft, could not carve out a role for himself in Milwaukee. He appeared in 21 games in both seasons, most recently averaging 1.4 points and 1.7 rebounds per game in 2024-25. Livingston’s contract for the 2025-26 season would have been guaranteed if he remained on the Bucks roster come July 15.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reports Deandre Ayton has agreed to a two-year deal with the Lakers.
Unsurprisingly, Ayton has decided to join the Lakers after agreeing with the Trail Blazers on a contract buyout. Los Angeles had a clear need at the center position, and they’ll look to the first overall pick in the 2018 draft to fill it. While he has averaged a double-double in his first seven seasons, Ayton’s last two years in Portland were underwhelming. Limited to 40 games last year due to injury, he averaged 14.4 points, 10.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 0.8 steals and 1.0 three-pointers in 30.2 minutes. Ayton is not the uber-athletic center who tends to flourish playing alongside Luka Doncic, but he’ll play starter’s minutes for a hopeful contender. Being in a lineup with Doncic, LeBron James and Austin Reaves will limit Ayton’s fantasy ceiling, but providing top-100 per-game value should not be an issue.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reports the Mavericks and Dante Exum have agreed to a one-year deal.
Despite signing D’Angelo Russell, the Mavericks clearly needed more ball-handlers. Kyrie Irving (ACL) is set to miss a significant portion of the 2025-26 season, and Spencer Dinwiddie has signed with the Hornets. For this reason, according to Charania’s report, they’ll hold onto Exum for another season. Injuries limited him to 20 games last season, with the former lottery pick averaging 8.7 points, 2.8 assists and 1.7 three-pointers in 18.6 minutes. Since returning to the NBA during the 2023-24 season, Exum has improved significantly as a shooter. The ability to handle the ball and defend multiple positions will help Dallas account for Irving’s absence, but Exum is unlikely to impact fantasy basketball dramatically.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reports that Spencer Dinwiddie has agreed to a one-year deal with the Hornets.
With D’Angelo Russell in Dallas, Dinwiddie became the odd man out in the backcourt, and he’ll take on a backup role behind LaMelo Ball. Given Ball’s voluminous injury history, it wouldn’t be surprising if Dinwiddie played enough to make meaningful contributions for fantasy managers.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reports that the Knicks are expected to hire Mike Brown as the franchise’s next head coach.
Brown has an impressive, championship-laden resume as an assistant to Gregg Popovich and Steve Kerr, and he’ll look to help New York take the next step after back-to-back losses in the conference semifinals.
NBA insider Chris B. Haynes reports that Jaren Jackson Jr. underwent surgery to address turf toe in his right foot, and he will be re-evaluated in 12 weeks.
The 12-week timeframe puts the next significant JJJ update no earlier than September 24, which means he may be ready for the start of the regular season. If Jackson Jr. is forced to miss time into October, Santi Aldama could see a major boost in usage and fantasy value. Zach Edey (ankle) is already set to miss the beginning of the season, leaving Memphis’ frontcourt rotation potentially thin to kick off the 2025-26 campaign.