What better way to say goodbye to the first half of the NBA season than with a special Thursday edition of the NBA Yahoo Cup? This free multi-round, single-entry contest that runs every week throughout the NBA DFS season tips off Round 12 of 23 tonight. Scoring is cumulative for the year-long points race, with your five lowest scores dropped. At the end of the season, a $50,000 prize pool is shared among the top 7,950 competitors, with a whopping $10,000 going to first. But even if you’re late to the game, the top 15 in tonight’s freeroll earn entry to the Final Round, where multiple Las Vegas trips will be up for grabs. Click here to get in on the action!
Let’s hone in on three plays to slot into your NBA DFS lineups for tonight’s NBA Yahoo Cup contest.
NBA DFS Pick No. 1: Nerlens Noel — $20
The Tom Thibodeau effect is in full effect with these Knicks big men. With the absences of Mitchell Robinson and Taj Gibson of late, the frontcourt tandem of Julius Randle and Nerlens Noel has seen an outrageous amount of court time, and I don’t see that changing whatsoever tonight. Even in a blowout loss to the Spurs on Tuesday, Noel saw 37 minutes of run and made for decent value at his $18 Yahoo salary.
While Noel’s sub-10% usage in his past four outings might be cause some concern to some, he still averages 0.95 fantasy points per minute on the season. That’s thanks in large part to his ability to grab boards and add defensive counting stats, as evidenced by his 9.3% block rate. I expect him to be a popular option on this slate, but understandably so since value is scarce at the moment. That’s why I’m advocating for locking in the guaranteed minutes with Noel here and differentiating elsewhere in your Yahoo Cup lineup.
NBA DFS Pick No. 2: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — $39
With all of the major absences for the Raptors tonight, I expect a $36 Kyle Lowry to be rostered at a high clip. While I don’t mind going that direction, though I prefer spending up just $3 more to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who won’t garner nearly as much steam. The main reason I’m advocating for that pivot revolves around Thunder center Al Horford, who’s a near lock to sit considering he hasn’t played both ends of a back-to-back once this season.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s 1.17 Yahoo points per minute would make him a solid spend-up option against the Spurs tonight with or without Horford in the lineup. But in his 532 minutes with Horford off the floor this season, that rate ticks up to 1.26 Yahoo points per minute. Fellow backcourt mate Hamidou Diallo is also scheduled to miss tonight with groin soreness, eliminating one other mouth to feed on the offensive end. Awesemo has Gilgeous-Alexander projected for just a 12.6% roster percentage, further solidifying his status as one of my favorite tournament plays for your Yahoo Cup lineup.
NBA DFS Pick No. 3: Kent Bazemore — $10
Because this is a large nine-game slate, the $10 minimum salary range is not nearly as barren as normal. The likes of Nemanja Bjelica, Alec Burks and Terence Davis are all gaining traction right now, and it’s hard to have much pushback there. But if Kelly Oubre sits once more for the Warriors tonight, Kent Bazemore would become by far my favorite $10 option on the board.
The field was hesitant to late-swap onto shares of Bazemore on Wednesday night when he was announced as starting well after lock. But those who made the pivot were rewarded with a fantastic 31-minute, 26.7-fantasy-point performance. The salary didn’t have time to adjust to this new role, plus the prospect of Oubre possibly playing won’t make Bazemore pop in projection models today. Bazemore is productive whenever he does see the court, as evidenced by his 0.95 fantasy points per minute on the year. Be sure to roster Bazemore in your forward or utility spot, and should he not be starting for any reason, you have Bjelica to pivot onto at the same salary in that late window of games.
