First things first, whether Christmas is on your calendar or not, all of us here at SportsEthos want to wish you a great holiday season. We genuinely appreciate you being part of what we’re building, reading, listening, debating and grinding through the fantasy chaos with us.

Now, let’s get to it. It’s the Christmas slate, with games spread out throughout the day, which means news, rotations, and usage can evolve in real time. Even with just five games on the board, every rotation tweak, surprise minutes bump, and late injury update carries extra weight. This is one of those slates where staying alert pays off, and the right stream at the right time can absolutely swing a matchup. Let’s break down who you can target and which storylines truly move the needle for fantasy basketball today.

Top Pickups

This is the “general must-add” section regardless of the slate. If these players are being overlooked and remain chilling on the waiver wire, consider adding them to your squad.

Andre Drummond (18%)

Yes, it’s 2025 and Andre Drummond needs to be rostered. That’s just where we are. Drummond has quietly established a very real floor around top-150 value in 8-cat leagues, with a particularly clean fit for builds punting points and or free-throw percentage. The rebounding remains elite, the field-goal percentage is still a positive anchor, the blocks are serviceable, and if you squint just a little, you’ll notice he’s averaging 0.6 three-pointers per game, which feels almost mischievous at this point in his career.

That baseline alone makes him a comfortable roster hold, but the context matters here. We just saw Joel Embiid go down with another knee scare on Tuesday night. While he was able to return, the larger pattern hasn’t changed. Philadelphia is clearly managing him game-to-game, and it increasingly looks like missed games and capped minutes will be part of the equation the rest of the way. Whenever Embiid sits or is limited, Drummond’s ceiling jumps in a hurry. He’s producing, the role is stable, and the path to upside is obvious. It may not be pretty, but it’s effective fantasy basketball, and Drummond checks more boxes than most managers want to admit.

Tre Johnson (5%)

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