Welcome to the Yahoo Cup NBA DFS Picks for Round 23! There are seven games tonight, with every game having a spread under 8 points. Last night featured many blowouts, so hopefully that can be avoided tonight. The slate also features multiple teams who are more interested in trying to have the worst record in the league, something to exploit in the NBA Yahoo Cup.
This is a free-to-enter, multi-round, single-entry Yahoo fantasy basketball contest with 24 rounds where the top 6,950 entries overall and top 540 entries per round share $50,000, with $10,000 to first overall and $100 to first per round. Scoring will be cumulative across all rounds. Your five lowest daily fantasy basketball scores will be dropped, and you can enter at any point, but enter today to give yourself the best chance to compete for the title. Make your Yahoo NBA DFS picks today and begin the chase!
The focus will be on three players — one guard, one forward, and one center — for NBA DFS picks for the Round 23 NBA Yahoo Cup contest.
Yahoo Cup Fantasy Basketball & NBA DFS Picks | Round 23
Best NBA Fantasy Guard: Kris Dunn, Portland Trail Blazers — $11
The matchup against the Portland Trail Blazers and the Houston Rockets is a prime example of neither team caring about winning the game. The Trail Blazers are going to be wildly popular with their salaries since Josh Hart, Eric Bledsoe, Justise Winslow and Anfernee Simons are all out. It’s going to be hard to ignore Kris Dunn at just $11 since he is logging between 25 and 28 minutes every night. It isn’t a large sample size since Dunn has only played six games for Portland, but he has a 16.3% usage rate and 0.79 Yahoo points per minute.
That has come with a true shooting rate of just 30.2%, and that has to correct to an extent at some point. The assist rate for Dunn is 37.8%, and he’s been distributing the ball well with 5.2 assists per game. Houston has been one of the most exploitable matchups in the league since they are top three in pace and dead last in defensive rating, and the 234-point total for this game leads the slate. Even with their projected popularity, utilizing players from the Trail Blazers is borderline a must regardless of contest size.
Best NBA Fantasy Forward: Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors — $23
Using the chalkiest team on the slate in the Trail Blazers requires the lineup to take some chances in other spots to get to the top of the NBA Yahoo Cup. Draymond Green fits the bill for the Golden State Warriors as they try to right the ship against the Atlanta Hawks tonight. The Warriors have gone just 5-5 in their last 10 and have had some bad losses mixed in, and Green is back to playing at least 30 minutes in a game. The Warriors need him to be at top form to go deep into the playoffs, and Green has 0.85 Yahoo points per minute. Plus, the Yahoo scoring is kind to his upside for blocks and steals. Atlanta is 26th in defensive rating this season, and 30 to 32 minutes from Green can result in a big score. He leads the team in assist rate when Stephen Curry is off the floor (32.9%), and Atlanta is also 22nd in rebounding on the season, leading Green to potentially threaten for a double-double.
Best NBA Fantasy Center: Rudy Gobert, Utah Jazz — $31
Rudy Gobert has to be one of the most appealing options at center tonight when the Utah Jazz visit the Charlotte Hornets. They have struggled against any big man all season long, as they rank 29th in both points and rebounds allowed in the paint. Gobert is tied for second in paint touches per game (11), and he’s tied for first in paint points scored (12.3). Additionally, Gobert leads the league in rebounds per game (14.5) and rebounding chances per game (24.4), and he recorded 23 points and 21 rebounds in the first game against the Hornets. Even if Gobert does not score another 53.2 Yahoo points tonight, the matchup is elite all the way around. He’s second in points scored from putbacks (3.6), and Charlotte is dead last defending that play. There is not a single metric that suggests Gobert shouldn’t destroy this matchup.
In addition to Gobert being a great tournament play in Yahoo fantasy basketball formats, the Awesemo NBA projections have him slated for 15.9 points. His NBA player prop for points is a great bet at over/under 14.5, and OddsShopper has an expected win rate of 58% when betting the over.
