The NBA Cup heads to Las Vegas, and on Saturday, two teams look to punch their ticket to the finals of the second-year tournament.
DraftKings is offering another daily contest with the chance to win $50,000. Below, I’ve identified a pair of DFS value plays that will give your lineup a critical advantage.
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA $200K Semi-Final Special [50K to 1st]
DraftKings Value Picks
SF/PF De’Andre Hunter ($5,600)
For the bulk of his career, saying someone played like De’Andre Hunter tended to be an insult. The University of Virginia product started his tenure in Atlanta promisingly as a combo wing who could handle the rock and guard multiple positions. Quickly, his potential tapered off, and Hunter was a “Tobias Harris All-Star”—a player who has the tools to be special on paper but tends to be invisible when on the floor.
Hunter somehow escaped the trade machine purgatory and, out of nowhere, is playing the best basketball of his career. Over his last ten games, Hunter is averaging 22 points a night while shooting over 50% from beyond the arc. Outside of solid help defense, he offers little else, but his recent scoring outburst has been enough to drive up his DFS value.
Is this stretch sustainable? Impossible to say. The efficiency from downtown will taper off, but his confidence and willingness to launch quality shots have been a total revelation. In a must-win game for a franchise that has played few meaningful games in the last few decades, Hunter will come out firing and should hover around 30 fantasy points.
PF/C Bobby Portis ($5,500)
Milwaukee has desperately needed consistent production from its role players to help prop up their superstars. The club has won eight of ten, and veteran forward Bobby Portis has dramatically stepped up to help get this group back on track.
Portis was a crucial cog on the championship squad in 2021 but has since struggled to replicate that success. He doesn’t fit the modern basketball ethos. Portis is a throwback four with a flurry of moves in the low post, can crash the glass, and is a hard-nosed enforcer unafraid to stir the pot if opponents are out of line.
He’s traditionally been an average spacer but is starting to find value in taking more looks from deep. Portis’s mixing in long-range attempts with his work in the paint has led to back-to-back games with nine field goals made and over 40 fantasy points. He has a slight stature advantage against Atlanta, who offers more defensive versatility on the perimeter than the blocks.
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All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook, lines and odds subject to change.
I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is xaiver-aguiar) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skills and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.
