3 NBA Player Prop Bets for Thursday 10/26/23

Player props can be useful in a variety of ways -- from taking advantage of them straight up to measuring a player's potential to produce in daily fantasy basketball on FanDuel. Here, we're going to focus on the former.

Using a wealth of statistical data, including numberFire's daily basketball projections, here are some NBA player prop bets that look appealing via the NBA odds at FanDuel Sportsbook.

Please note lines are subject to change throughout the day after this article is published.

NBA Prop Bets

Tyrese Maxey Over 31.5 Pts + Reb + Ast (-108)

The Philadelphia 76ers' season kicks off tonight, and James Harden is nowhere to be found.

After a drama-ridden offseason regarding all things Harden, the former MVP missed the majority of the Sixers' preseason. Reports say that Harden reported back to the team on Wednesday, but it is unknown when he will next suit up for the Philly -- at the very least, it won't be tonight.

Enter Tyrese Maxey, who is not only a star in the making but has also shown a great ability to capitalize on Harden's infamous absences.

In 14 Harden-less games last season, Maxey averaged 24.8 points, 5.4 assists, and 3.8 rebounds. The total combination of those stats brings Maxey to 34 combined points, rebounds and assists (PRA) without Harden, and the 14-game sample size is fairly juicy.

Maxey's matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks tonight could get very interesting.

Last season, the Bucks allowed the second-most field-goal attempts per game. They gave up the second-highest EFG% to players in isolation while also allowing up the fourth-most points per possesion in this split.

Further, Milwaukee led the league in shots allowed to ball-handlers off the pick-and-roll by a hefty margin (22.3 allowed per game in this split, 4.2 more than any other team). This is great news for anyone backing Maxey -- not only should the whole Sixers team have decent spots to score and create offense, but guards, specifically, seem to be in an advantageous position.

Plus, the Bucks' defense got worse in the offseason -- they traded away Jrue Holiday, who was third among all starting guards in defensive rating, and acquired Damian Lillard, who ranked 70th in this regard.

Maxey showed quite the potential last year, averaging 22.3 points, 4.0 assists, and 3.2 rebounds per game during his starts. Given Harden's absence, the Bucks' defensive struggles, and the shot and assist availability that someone like Joel Embiid provides, I like Maxey's chances to have a big game tonight.

LeBron James To Score 25+ Points (+210)

LeBron James has just begun his 20th season in the NBA, and his +7 plus/minus marker in the Los Angeles Lakers' season-opeing 12-point loss to the Denver Nuggets indicates that he has no plans of halting his impact on the game anytime soon.

Even though we could cite LeBron as the reason that the Lakers were able to stay in the game against Denver, he did have a quieter offensive performance than usual. He scored 21 points on 16 shots on Tuesday, while he averaged 28.9 points on 22.2 shots last season.

Given that LeBron comes into the season at 38 years old, it's fair to say that regression is imminent -- but not to the extent where he is taking more than six fewer shots per game than the season prior.

I think we should see him get up a lot more shot attempts this game, not only because 20-plus shots is the norm for LeBron but also because the loss against Denver proved that the Lakers tend to flail when he isn't producing -- and tonight's matchup against the Phoenix Suns won't be easy.

The Suns have a solid defense, but they did let up the third-most free throw attempts per game last season. Given that LeBron knows how to draw fouls (he drew five per game last year; 20th-most in the NBA), he should see a decent amount of opportunities at the free-throw line tonight.

Last season, LeBron scored 25-plus points in 70.3% of games (38 of 54), which is pretty astonishing compared to the implied probability for this prop (32.3%).

FanDuel Sportsbook sets his point prop tonight at 20.5 with -122 odds on the over -- he cleared 20.5 points in 79.6% of games last season. While I obviously like LeBron's chances to go over 20.5 points tonight, I find more value in his odds to score 25-plus.

Jusuf Nurkic To Record A Double-Double (+150)

Jusuf Nurkic was a bright spot in the Suns' season-opening win over the Golden State Warriors -- he scored 14 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in 28 minutes of play.

Nurkic should be a candidate to average a double-double this season (he's already done so four times in his career), so I'm siding with him tonight while the plus odds are still here.

Nurkic averaged 13.4 points and 9.3 rebounds per game last season, which is right near where we want him to be tonight -- and I think the Lakers offer a decent matchup for Nurkic.

Last season, the Lakers were first in the league in shots allowed per 36 minutes to centers. They also surrendered the eighth-most points in the paint, which is where Nurkic scores the highest percentage of his points (42.9%).

Plus, the Lakers gave up the fourth-most rebounds per 36 minutes to centers last year.

In their season opener, Los Angeles allowed two players (Nikola Jokic and Michael Porter Jr.) to record a double-double via points and rebounds, and I think Nurkic is set up nicely to do just that tonight.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.