RADIO
The New York Liberty won! The New York Liberty won! The New York Liberty won! The New York Liberty won! The New York Liberty won! The New York Liberty won! The New York Liberty won! The New York Liberty won! With last night's win over the Chicago Sky, the Liberty can no longer finish with the worst winning percentage in WNBA history. Yay!
In this article, I'll be providing you with some daily fantasy WNBA lineup picks for DraftKings and FanDuel on 8/26/20. 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
Diana Taurasi (G, Phoenix Mercury) – vs Connecticut Sun (DK: $10,100, FD: $7,000)
Remember at the end of her injury-shortened 2019 season when it looked like Taurasi might be done as an elite-level WNBA player.
Well, LOL, we were all wrong. Sure, Taurasi has seen her games played limited this year, but when she's on the floor, she's as lethal as ever. In 11 games, Taurasi is averaging 18.1 points, shooting 36.5 percent from three, and adding 4.1 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and 1.5 steals per game. She's coming off a season-high 34 points against the Mystics, and while expecting that kind of performance against Connecticut might be wishful thinking, Taurasi's volume -- especially from three -- makes her a strong play.
Crystal Dangerfield (G, Minnesota Lynx) – vs Los Angeles Sparks (DK: $7,700, FD: $5,600)
It's possible that Chennedy Carter returns on Wednesday after missing two weeks with an ankle sprain, but I don't trust Carter in her return game. If you're looking for a rookie guard to play on this slate, I'd instead look at Minnesota and Crystal Dangerfield.
With Odyssey Sims playing a limited role since returning to the team, Dangerfield has taken over as the starting PG for the Lynx. She's scored 14 or more points in five consecutive games, has three 20-point games this month, and has mostly been adding solid assist numbers, though she only has three combined assists in her last two games. Because of her size, she's not a huge rebounding threat, which hurts her game, but she's got quick hands to poke away some steals and had a career-high 29 points the last time she faced the Sparks.
Kiara Leslie (G, Washington Mystics) – vs Atlanta Dream (DK: $6,200, FD: $3,300)
The important number here is that $3,300 salary on FanDuel. On DraftKings, I might prefer paying a slight bit more for the upside of teammate Stella Johnson, but on FanDuel it's hard to resist Leslie at her pricing. This is a game that features two defenses that have struggled lately, which should lead to some explosive offensive production. Leslie has played 20-plus minutes in three of the last four games, and has taken at least six shots in all four of those games. Her shot wasn't falling in the first two, but against a weak Dream defense, Leslie has a chance to notch her second game with double-digit points, plus can keep up the solid rebounding she's done over the last few games. She's also recorded a steal in five consecutive contests.
WNBA - DFS Forwards
Myisha Hines-Allen (F, Washington Mystics) – vs Atlanta Dream (DK: $10,400 FD: $7,000)
As mentioned above, the Atlanta defense isn't very good. For the season, their defensive rating is the worst in the league at 110.8. Hines-Allen has been playing some good basketball lately and, maybe most importantly for this matchup, has been taking a LOT of shots. 17 against Phoenix (though she shot 23.5 percent). 23 against Dallas (when she shot 56.5 percent and had 35 points). The last time Hines-Allen faced Atlanta, she had 23 points on 71.4 percent shooting. She's also had double doubles in consecutive games and has seen an increase in her assist game, with 11 of them in the past two games.
Glory Johnson (F, Atlanta Dream) – vs Washington Mystics (DK: $5,900, FD: $4,500)
Time for a boom-or-bust play. Johnson -- who I pretty firmly believe is the best option on this team at the four -- has 23 point on 16 shots two games ago against the Sparks. Last game against Minnesota, she had one point on four shots. Her inconsistent volume is worrisome, but the Mystics have the third-worst defensive rating over the last five games, so if Johnson gets the chance to take a lot of shots again, there's a good chance most of them fall into the bucket. She's also had five or more rebounds in the last two games, plus a pair of assists in each, and two steals against the Sparks. Johnson's starting to play a larger role, and Washington's a good team to target her against.
Kia Vaughn (F, Phoenix Mercury) – vs Connecticut Sun (DK: $5,600, FD: $4,600)
Brittney Griner left the bubble for personal reasons, and in the first game of the post-Griner era, Vaughn exploded. 16 points in 27 minutes, plus five rebounds and an assist. It was her first time this year to score more than seven points, and her first time to atempt more than four shots.
With Griner out, someone's got to step up inside to help take pressure off the team's guards. Vaughn looked like she might be the answer against the Mystics, and now faces a Sun team that allows the fourth-most points in the paint in the WNBA.
