The race for the BetMGM NBA Yahoo Cup is heating up! The multi-round, single-entry contest that runs nearly every Friday throughout the NBA DFS season tips off Round 8 of 23 tonight. Scoring is cumulative for the yearlong 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-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 join the action tonight!
Let’s focus in on three plays for your NBA DFS lineups in tonight’s NBA Yahoo Cup contest:
NBA DFS Pick No. 1: Hamidou Diallo — $18
Diallo enters tonight’s matchup in fine form and taking on the hapless Timberwolves. With the plethora of injuries for this Thunder team, Diallo eclipsed the 30-minute mark for the first time Wednesday on the way to a solid 31.3 fantasy points. While his salary jumped from $14 to $18 since then, it’s still not enough to warrant a fade from me considering his 1.1 fantasy points per minute and 23.1% usage rate on the year. Among all of the popular Thunder plays tonight, Diallo sticks out a ways above the rest.
NBA DFS Pick No. 2: Davis Bertans — $10
If there’s one thing I hate, it’s playing popular shooting-dependent guys. However, with how bad Bertans has been to start off this season, he’s a shooting-dependent play who might go overlooked despite his minimum salary. My bullishness on Bertans has mostly to do with his recent minutes and shot volume; he has cleared 30 minutes in two of the Wizards’ past three, averaging 10 3-point attempts per game in that same span. I expect positive regression from Bertans sooner rather than later, so I am happy to buy in at such his advantageous tag tonight.
NBA DFS Pick No. 3: Andre Drummond — $37
One of the tougher decisions on this slate is how to decipher between the multiple elite center options. On the top end, Domantas Sabonis ($42) and Nikola Vucevic ($41) stick out as rightfully popular picks. Al Horford ($21) and Naz Reid ($15) stand out to me on the lower end of the spectrum with their suppressed salaries. But the Yahoo Cup is the perfect place for a YOLO play such as Andre Drummond tonight, who sits in No Man’s Land with his $37 salary.
With Collin Sexton currently questionable and the Cavaliers double-digit underdogs to the visiting Bucks, Drummond might be the only way the Cavs could keep it close. He is second on the entire slate with 1.52 Yahoo points per minute, trailing only Giannis Antetokounmpo (1.58). Furthermore, the Bucks have quietly given up the most fantasy points to opposing centers this season. I expect Drummond to be relatively unrostered; if he can somehow sneak 30-plus minutes in tonight, the field might be regretting that decision.
