Welcome to Round 19 of the NBA Yahoo Cup! This free, multi-round, single-entry contest runs every Friday throughout the rest of the NBA DFS season. 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 amongst 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 finishers in tonight’s freeroll earn entry to the BetMGM Final Round, where multiple Las Vegas trips will be up for grabs. Click here to get in on the action!
Let’s focus on three plays to slot into your NBA DFS lineups for tonight’s Yahoo Cup contest.
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NBA DFS Pick No. 1: Brandon Goodwin — $10
After an incredible first half against the Knicks on Wednesday, Trae Young turned his ankle in the third quarter and could not continue. Fortunately, the injury is not as bad as originally thought, but he will miss the next few games for the Hawks. That opens up a plethora of point guard minutes and opportunity in a tough Miami matchup this evening, all of which will most likely be filled by backup Brandon Goodwin.
Young recently sat out on April 11 and 13 for injury as well, so there is some precedence for what head coach Nate McMillan will opt to do. In those games, Goodwin received 37 minutes of run each night and performed admirably, with outings of 33 and 30.5 Yahoo fantasy points. At 0.79 fantasy points per minute on the season with Young off the floor, his rates are far from eye-catching. But it’s rare to have a backup inserted into a starting lineup who could legitimately play more minutes than the normal starter, making Goodwin a high-floor candidate for NBA Yahoo Cup lineups tonight.
NBA DFS Pick No. 2: Raul Neto — $11
Let it be known that there are a number of other intriguing $10 and $11 options besides Goodwin to choose from tonight. With Davis Bertans, Kevon Looney and Lou Williams all sitting at or near minimum salary, there is no lack of value at other positions this evening. However, point guard has yet another cheap option that projects phenomenally well in Raul Neto, making it the priority position to punt for Yahoo Cup lineups.
The Wizards will be playing without Rui Hachimura and Deni Avdija tonight, opening up a ton of forward minutes that need to be filled. But based on their rotations against the Warriors on Wednesday, Scott Brooks has opted to go with a three-guard lineup instead, inserting Neto in at the two and sliding star Bradley Beal to the three. This resulted in an abundance of run and opportunity for Neto, as he put up 34.6 Yahoo fantasy points in his 36 minutes of court time. Awesemo’s NBA DFS projections, created and used daily by the No. 1 DFS player in the world Alex Baker, currently has Neto pegged for another 30-minute outing, making Neto yet another point guard to prioritize.
NBA DFS Pick No. 3: Paul George — $41
With Kawhi Leonard out for a majority of the past two weeks, Paul George has gone on a torrid run of late to pick up the slack. Having eclipsed 50 Yahoo fantasy points in six of his past seven outings, George now draws a weak Rockets opposition that ranks seventh in pace and 25th in defensive efficiency this season. He is sporting a 39.3% usage rate, 25.9% assist rate and 12.7% rebounding rate since the first of the month, proving he can do it all for Tyronn Lue’s team as they make a final push for playoff seeding. And when factoring in salary, George is basically a $50 player at a steep discount of $41, making him an elite play for NBA Yahoo Cup lineups.
