RADIO
The first week of the WNBA season keeps cruising along, and on Thursday night we'll be getting third games from six teams. And after a Wednesday night that featured one really good Mercury/Fever game and also a pair of blowouts, let's hope that we get some closer basketball on Thursday. (Although, not everything about Wednesday was bad, as Sabrina Ionescu had her first 30-point game and one of my favorite college players, Brittany Brewer, got her first WNBA minutes for the Dream.)
In this article, I'll be providing you with some daily fantasy WNBA lineup picks for DraftKings and FanDuel on 7/30/20. These lineups picks will range from elite players to mid-priced options and value plays.
Want to talk more about the WNBA? I'm always available on Twitter and always down to discuss women's basketball: @juscarts
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WNBA - DFS Guards
DeWanna Bonner (G, Connecticut Sun) – vs Los Angeles Sparks (DK: $10,700, FD: $7,500)
We're two games in and I've already reached the "yeah, we're paying up for DeWanna Bonner whenever we can" stage:
The pluses with Bonner: She plays a ton, she shoots a ton, and she rebounds a ton. She touches the ball enough to also rack up a good number of assists, plus she's all over the court defensively.
Bonner's already the engine that's driving the Sun with Jonquel Jones gone for the season, and now she gets a matchup with a Sparks team that just gave up 96 points to Chicago and struggled to contain the team's wings.
Does Los Angeles have a way to slow down a player like Bonner? I guess we'll learn on Thursday, but I'm going with "probably not!"
Kahleah Copper (G, Chicago Sky) – vs Minnesota Lynx (DK: $6,600, FD: $5,000)
Until Diamond DeShields is back to 100 percent, Copper's going to be getting a lot of minutes, and through two games she's done a lot with those minutes.
Copper is currently averaging 19.5 points (with 16 shot attempts per game!) and six rebounds. With veterans like Courtney Vandersloot and Allie Quigley seemingly taking a step back in terms of volume and DeShields not yet playing like MVP Candidate Diamond DeShields, it's been Copper taking on a larger scoring load.
In what's likely to be a fast-paced game, Copper should keep up her recent play. The only concern is if DeShields is ready to return to the starting lineup, but the Sky are pretty shallow on the wing, so even then Copper should remain a key piece for this team. There's really only eight players in this rotation right now, and that includes DeShields, who is still playing plenty even if she's not at 100 percent.
Shenise Johnson (G, Minnesota Lynx) – vs Chicago Sky (DK: $5,500, FD: $4,000)
I don't feel great about Shenise Johnson, but Minnesota is in a bit of a pinch here. Karima Christmas-Kelly is out for the season. Lexie Brown has a concussion. Offense outside of the paint's got to come from somewhere.
Maybe, if you're feeling even riskier, you could look to Crystal Dangerfield for that offense, but she killed a lot of our lineups in her last game. I'd rather take a risk on Johnson, who has shown that when given a big role, she can do something like what she did in 2017: 11.3 points on 43.3 percent shooting, with 3.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.5 steals. She can fill the box score up when needed, and that might be needed on Thursday night.
Additional Notes: Gabby Williams has had a good start to the year, but $5,800 on FanDuel feels a tad too high for me, though I like her on DraftKings, where she's cheap and qualifies as a forward. Seimone Augustus saw limited minutes last time out, but that could just mean she gets more minutes this time? And I'm worried about this being a let-down game for the Mystics, so as much as I like Ariel Atkins, I don't foresee myself with many shares of her on Thursday.
WNBA - DFS Forwards
Breanna Stewart (F, Seattle Storm) – vs Washington Mystics (DK: $11,100 FD: $8,000)
Breanna Stewart is the best player in the WNBA. You might have forgot that since she didn't play last year, but a quick look at her game log this season will have you remembering it pretty quick:
Coming off of an Achilles tear, Stewart has been filling up the box score. She's scoring efficiently. She's hitting threes. She's grabbing boards. Getting steals. Getting to the line.
Stewie rules. And while her matchup against the Mystics is worrisome based on how Washington has played, the way Seattle uses Stewart makes her virtually matchup proof.
Azura Stevens (F, Chicago Sky) – vs Minnesota Lynx (DK: $8,900, FD: $4,800)
Stevens gets a boost with Stefanie Dolson out. Without Dolson, Stevens played a team-high 31 minutes on Tuesday, scoring 21 points to go along with eight boards, four assists, and two blocks.
No team allows more fast break points than the Lynx, and Chicago is fourth in the league in percentage of points off the fast break. This should be a fast-paced game, which will favor the Sky. Stevens has done a good job keeping up with her team's pace this season, and the mix of Dolson being out and Stevens becoming more comfortable on this team has me really liking her on this slate.
Aerial Powers (F, Washington Mystics) – vs Seattle Storm (DK: $8,100, FD: $6,000)
This matchup conflicts me. Washington has been really good to start 2020, but Seattle's the best team in the league, a really good defensive squad, and Washington feels like they're playing at their ceiling right now.
But if I were to target a Mystics player, I'd go with Powers, mainly because she's the cheapest of the Washington forwards, so I can hedge against a let-down game by saving some money to use on some of the high-priced options.
Powers has been on fire through two games, averaging 21.5 points on 71.4 percent shooting, making 55.6 percent of her threes to go along with 4.5 boards and 2.5 assists per game. With a big increase in minutes and usage, Powers has finally hit on the potential that she's flashed before.
Again, there's risk to playing any Mystic in this game. But I think Powers could be worth the risk.
Additional Notes: Natasha Howard has been disappointing this season, and I would avoid her for now until we see if she's going to turn it around. Cheyenne Parker is a strong option with Stefanie Dolson missing Thursday's game. And Nneka Ogwumike should have a bounce back after struggling on Tuesday.
