RADIO
Happy Wednesday! There are three WNBA tonight, and it's going to be a weird night. First up, the Sparks play the Liberty in a rematch of a game that happened last night, with New York winning 102-73. The Fever also take on the Dream in the other early game, while the Lynx and the Storm face in the late game. Playoff implications abound tonight!
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 8/3/22. These lineups picks will range from elite players to mid-priced options and value plays. The slates lock on 8/3/2022 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.
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WNBA DFS Picks: Forward
Sylvia Fowles (Minnesota Lynx) - @ SEA - DK: $10,300; FD: $7,900
Fowles has scored in double figures in three consecutive games, despite not playing more than 27 minutes in any of them. That's mostly because of how efficient she's been. Last time out against the Sparks, she played just 22 minutes, but shot 88.9% from the floor to finish with 16 points to go along with nine rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal.
With the Storm relying more and more on Tina Charles at the five instead of the defensive-minded Ezi Magbegor, there's room for Fowles to just go completely off in this one. She had 14 points and 10 rebounds against the Mercury back in June when that team was playing Charles at the five. I'd expect another strong showing against Charles on Wednesday night.
Naz Hillmon (Atlanta Dream) - vs IND - DK: $7,800; FD: $5,100
Hillmon has been playing a ton of minutes lately, with 30 or more minutes of playing time in seven consecutive games. The issue has been that Hillmon isn't doing a lot of scoring in those minutes. She's now gone six games in a row without scoring in double figures.
But if there's a night to take a chance on a rebounding machine who'll play 30 minutes, it's against the Fever. Indiana has the worst scoring defense in the WNBA. Hillmon should be able to do a little more offensively than she's been doing. I could be wrong about that, but if she takes five to seven shots against this Fever defense, she can wind up with 10-plus points, which would give her fantasy value a nice boost.
Olivia Nelson-Ododa (Los Angeles Sparks) - @ NY - DK: $4,400; FD: $3,600
Last night's game being a blowout definitely helped ONO get 24 minutes, but she's also been playing more overall since Liz Cambage left the team. Last night, she finished with 12 points on 6-for-7 shooting with four rebounds, one assist and three steals.
In her last four games, Nelson-Ododa has played double-digit minutes off the bench and has shot at least 50% from the floor in each game. The Liberty frontcourt hasn't been great defensively, as Stefanie Dolson and Han Xu both have good size but aren't super versatile. There's room for ONO to have another solid showing, assuming she gets 15-plus minutes.
WNBA DFS Picks: Guard
Sabrina Ionescu (New York Liberty) - vs LA - DK: $10,900; FD: $8,600
This is a really easy play for me.
We saw last night that the Sparks couldn't defend Ionescu. Maybe they figure something out tonight, but this Sparks team doesn't have a lot of depth and their guards outside of Brittney Sykes aren't great defenders.
Ionescu finished with 31 points on 11-for-16 shooting last night in just 24 minutes of action, with six rebounds, four assists and three steals. The key here is the 24 minutes—this game was a blowout, so Ionescu got some rest. So even with this being night two of a back-to-back, Ionescu should have fairly fresh legs.
Rhyne Howard (Atlanta Dream) - vs IND - DK: $10,200; FD: $8,200
We've got another battle of the top two draft picks on deck on Wednesday night as the Dream face the Fever.
The last time these teams met, Rhyne Howard had 16 points and five rebounds. The time before that, 19 points and five rebounds. And the first time, 33 points and just three rebounds.
The point is: Howard has done a good job filling up the stat sheet when facing the league's worst scoring defense.
She's also scored 20-plus points in two of the last three games despite shooting under 40% in all three games. Against Seattle a few games ago, Howard took 30 shots, because the Dream needed her to do that.
Volume and matchup make Howard a top play.
Destanni Henderson (Indiana Fever) - @ ATL - DK: $5,400; FD: $3,900
With Kelsey Mitchell done for the year, the big question was who her minutes would go to.
The answer is rookie Destanni Henderson, which is smart for a team that's not making the playoffs this year and should turn to their youth.
Henderson played 31 minutes against the Aces last time out, going 6-for-14 from the floor with 16 points plus two rebounds and four assists. She's a great value option right now because her DFS salary has yet to catch up to her new playing time. Maybe not the highest ceiling in the world, but it appears her new-found role offers a nice floor.
