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Justin Carter's top daily fantasy WNBA lineup picks for 8/2/22. Expert WNBA DFS advice for DraftKings and FanDuel and today's best bets.
There's a busy Tuesday coming up in the WNBA, with four games on deck. That includes one big matchup between the Aces and Mystics, plus the Mercury taking on the Sun and the Sparks facing the Liberty. Those games all tip at 7:00 p.m., while the Wings and Sky will face at 9:00 p.m.
If you're new here, this is our (mostly) daily look at the WNBA from a DFS perspective. Each day, I recommend three forwards and three guards who you should be considering for your daily fantasy lineups. Why listen to RotoBaller over the other sites? Because I live and breathe women's hoops. This isn't just something I'm doing because the NBA isn't in season.
In this article, I'll be providing you with some daily fantasy WNBA lineup picks for DraftKings and FanDuel on 8/2/22. These lineups picks will range from elite players to mid-priced options and value plays. The slates lock on 8/2/2022 at 7:00 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.
WNBA DFS Picks: Forward
Elena Delle Donne (Washington Mystics) - vs LV - DK: $10,600; FD: $9,200
Entering this season, we had no idea what to expect from Elena Delle Donne. She's missed most of the last two seasons and has a string of back issues. Would she be the same player who once shot 50/40/90?
Yeah, pretty much.
Delle Donne is shooting 49.6% from the floor and 41.5% from three this season, plus 91.4% from the charity stripe. And while she was sitting out games for rest a lot earlier in the year, the team is giving her heavier minutes now, as she's played 30-plus minutes in three in a row. She's scored 20-plus points in three of the last four games.
Jonquel Jones (Connecticut Sun) - vs PHO - DK: $8,800; FD: $6,600
Last season's MVP has seen a notable drop in her numbers this year. Her points per game are down from 19.4 to 14.5. Her rebounds from 11.2 to 8.5. Even her assists are down, going from 2.8 last year to 1.8 this year. The re-additions of Alyssa Thomas and Courtney Williams have meant there's been less need to focus on Jones.
But she's still capable of posting some explosive lines, like when she had back-to-back 20-point games in July. You wish the volume was more consistent, but her salary has dropped enough for her to go from "risky expensive play" to "risky but slightly less expensive play," which is always a better category to be in.
Last time she faced the Mercury, she had 24 points and seven rebounds, though that was back when the Mercury still had Tina Charles at the five, so it's not as predictive as we'd like.
Rebecca Allen (New York Liberty) - vs LA - DK: $6,200; FD: $4,100
Allen is like a Swiss army knife for the Liberty. Ask her to do something and she'll do it pretty well, though maybe not quite as good as if you had a specialist doing that thing.
Because of the way she plays, there are nights where she doesn't do too much on the scoreboard because she wasn't really asked to. Playing in fantasy means you're risking one of those games happening, but it also means that you can get some really good value on a night where the Liberty need Allen to shoot, like last game when she went 4-for-5 from deep.
The last time she played the Sparks, she was injured and played just two minutes, but she had two points and a rebound in those two minutes.
WNBA DFS Picks: Guard
Sabrina Ionescu (New York Liberty) - vs LA - DK: $10,200; FD: $8,600
The last time Ionescu stepped on a basketball court, she broke the Liberty's single-game record for assists, recording 16 of them. She's also had eight rebounds in three of the last four games, plus continues to see a high volume as a scorer.
Last time Ionescu faced the Sparks, she shot just 27.8% from the floor, but that didn't end up mattering for fantasy purposes, as Ionescu had 14 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
It's proof that Ionescu can shoot terribly and will still score you 35-plus fantasy points, all because her role on this team is "miss proof," which is what I'm calling it when a player contributes in so many ways that missed shots just make you shrug and say "ehh, she'll be fine."
Jackie Young (Las Vegas Aces) - @ WAS - DK: $8,700; FD: $8,400
Don't particularly love the matchup here, but I like having nightly exposure to Aces players just because this team's ceiling is so high.
Young has scored in double figures in seven consecutive games and has at least four rebounds in each of those games. Her assist numbers are all over the place right now, but she's always a threat to dish out five of them in a night.
She had 20 points, three rebounds and three assists in her last meeting with the Mystics.
Chennedy Carter (Los Angeles Sparks) - @ NY - DK: $5,400; FD: $5,000
Carter's first season with the Sparks has been a major disappointment. Her minutes are down. Her usage is down. She's averaging 9.0 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.
But the tides might be starting to turn.
In her last three games, Carter has jumped that scoring average up to 16.0 points per game, plus 3.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists. The Sparks seem to finally be relying on Carter from a scoring perspective and while it isn't translating into wins, it's a trend that I don't see changing simply because this is a team that's in pretty dire need of scoring threats.
