RADIO
Welcome to a weird Thursday in the WNBA, with games all day long. The first one is the Liberty and Mystics at 11:30 a.m ET, then the Dream and Sparks play at 3:30 p.m. and the Fever and Aces at 10:00 p.m. Some really spread out stuff, huh? DraftKings is running three slates today, with the first and third games having Showdown slates and the second and third games combined as the main slate. FanDuel has all three games on the main slate, which means you have to get to playing early over there. Because of this weird structure, I'll be doing things a little different today in terms of article structure.
I'll be providing daily fantasy lineup picks for the WNBA this season here at RotoBaller. In addition, I'll be sprinkling in some basic betting picks. Not going to get complicated since there's limited space in this piece, but I'll throw you a bet or two each day that I like and, because I think this is important, that I'll be making myself.
In this article, I'll be providing you with some daily fantasy WNBA lineup picks for DraftKings and FanDuel on 7/21/22. These lineups picks will range from elite players to mid-priced options and value plays. The slates lock on 7/21/2022 at 11:30 a.m. ET, 3:30 p.m. ET and 10:00 p.m. ET. Want to talk more about the WNBA? I'm always available on Twitter and always down to discuss women's basketball: @juscarts.
Liberty @ Mystics Players To Watch
I'm sure a lot of you will read this after this game tips off, so I'll keep this all brief.
New York won the last meeting of these teams, with Natasha Howard scoring 27 points on 13-for-17 shooting. She's slumped some since then, but hard to ignore how she tore this Mystics team up, even if the Mystics were without Elena Delle Donne.
Speaking of Elena Delle Donne, she did play in the first meeting of these teams, scoring 15 points and adding eight rebounds. You probably can't go wrong by anchoring your lineup with EDD or one of the other top Mystics players, Natasha Cloud and Ariel Atkins. And on the Liberty side, Sabrina Ionescu always has an immense ceiling, as she had 24 points in the first meeting.
As for value, that's tough. You could take a big swing on Jocelyn Willoughby, who returned last game from injury, but the only way that'll really work out is if the Liberty play her at the four, where the team is shallow right now. But the Liberty haven't really shown an inclination to do that. On the Washington side, there's a clear break in salary between players who play (all over $6,000 on DraftKings) and players who don't (all under $4,000).
Dream @ Sparks Players To Watch
Of course, this starts with Nneka Ogwumike, who had 35 points against the Fever in her last game. She's been the best Sparks player all year and had 17 points and 15 boards in the last meeting of these teams.
The Sparks are a team I might avoid outside of Nneka though, because the team is expecting Liz Cambage and Chennedy Carter to return but play limited minutes. That'll mess with the rotation and especially lowers the value that has been there for Nneka's sister, Chiney Ogwumike. I think you can still take a swing on Chiney, but we don't know how much Cambage cuts into her minutes.
For Atlanta, injuries in the frontcourt make Cheyenne Parker the top play here, as no Monique Billings or Nia Coffey means that the Dream will need to get a lot of minutes and usage out of Parker.
I also think rookie Rhyne Howard has gotten past that rookie wall and is back to being someone you can take a chance on nightly. She had 21 points and eight rebounds last time she faced the Sparks.
As for a value play, Kia Vaughn is slightly interesting as a punt play because of the injury issues with the Dream. She's been really up-and-down and this probably doesn't hit, but scared money doesn't make money, right?
Fever @ Aces Players To Watch
Alright. This one is easy.
The entire Aces starting lineup is in play on Thursday night. A'ja Wilson playing against the league's worst defense makes her the best play, but Kelsey Plum should deliver too. Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young, and Dearica Hamby are all good pivots off of those two if you want to diversify your lineup and play some top players from a different team. Hamby is really interesting since she's a good bit cheaper than the other four. She's struggled over the last two games, going a combined 1-for-7 from the floor, but this is the kind of matchup that's made for a player to break a slump.
If Vegas has a value play, it's Riquna Williams. If we assume this game is a blowout, Williams should get a lot of second-half run.
As for Indiana, I'm going light on them unless I'm going the Showdown slate for this game. NaLyssa Smith and Kelsey Mitchell can deliver pretty consistently if you want to sprinkle them into some lineups. Otherwise, my favorite Fever play is definitely Tiffany Mitchell, who had 22 points and four rebounds last game against the Sparks. She also had negative fantasy points in the game before that, but she's played 20-plus minutes in four of the last five games and offers some good upside at a low cost.
WNBA Betting Picks for 7/21/2022
Looking to make some WNBA bets? Let's look at some options for you.
Yesterday's Results: 2-1
Some Quick ML Picks
In the interest of getting this article live early enough to benefit those playing the early slate of games, I'm just going to quickly tell you who I think should win each game. These are pretty easy today:
Mystics
Dream
Aces
Not really anything shocking. Dream/Sparks should be a good one but the other two games feature some pretty big talent disparities.
