NBA Playoffs Series Preview: Cavaliers vs. Celtics
Alex Christenson
The WNBA is into the final days of the regular season, and the DFS action rolls on. In this article, I’ll provide a few of my favorite building blocks on the day’s slate, my MME player pool and some of my preferred picks for the prop market. Keep in mind that staying up to date with player availability and starting lineups is just as important here as it is in NBA DFS, so make sure to check in with the FTN WNBA Discord channel for any news updates that our team finds.
We’ve got another single-game showdown slate in front of us Wednesday night, so let’s dive in.
I’m not quite sure how Noelle Quinn is going to handle these final three games for the Storm. With the team eliminated from playoff contention and technically still in the hunt for the first overall pick (they’d need to lose out and have the Mercury win their final two games, an unlikely proposition), I’m not quite sure why they’d continue to run their franchise players into the ground. But this is the WNBA, where the coaching is sometimes even less sensible than you’d expect, so until we have some further guidance it’s hard to pass up what Loyd has been doing lately. She’s exceeded 40 DK points in four straight games even while things have been going quite poorly from an efficiency standpoint, shooting just 34% from the floor and 25% from three in that span. Loyd has played massive minutes regardless of gamescript, including 34 minutes in a 36-point loss to Las Vegas Saturday. That was potentially due to that game being Seattle’s last gasp at a playoff spot as they were eliminated officially with the loss, so again, let’s see if we get news on a potential shift in this rotation leading up to lock. Absent that information, it’s hard to pass up the fantasy floor that Loyd presents on a showdown slate. Given the pricing on this slate, she’s more likely to be in my lineups in a utility spot rather than a priority option at captain.
Atlanta on the other hand is still very much in the thick of the playoff race. With three games remaining they sit in seventh, holding a game and a half lead over the ninth-seeded Sparks. They also have a chance to be as high as the fifth seed by season’s end. With everything left to play for we should expect the Dream to run their normal rotation with the possibility they tighten things up as we’ve reached the final five days of the regular season. With that context provided and prices considered, Gray is my favorite option on the slate. Using her at captain over the other four more expensive options provides you significant salary savings for the remaining spots in your lineup. Gray has averaged 0.94 DK points per minute on the season and in two matchups against Seattle this year she’s posted 1.08 DK points per minute. Her shooting splits are also noticeably better at home in 2023, so it doesn’t hurt that this game is in at Atlanta. She hasn’t cracked the 30 DK point mark since Aug. 10 (when she posted 36 DK against this same Seattle team) but also provides a safe floor, dipping below 25 DK points just seven times all season. Even if you don’t captain Gray (and I certainly don’t think you must lock her into that spot in an MME build), I would be many lineups in before I hit submit on one that didn’t contain her at all. The price is too cheap for her upside on this single-game slate.
There’s not a ton of standout value on this slate, barring some unforeseen news. So even though her price has risen as a result of taking over for the injured Nia Coffey in this starting five, Billings is a very strong play Tuesday. After a few games with Naz Hillmon in the first five coach Wright inserted Billings into the starting group, where she’s remained for the past four games. Billings has averaged 0.79 DK points per minute on the year and has been quite poor with her fantasy efficiency over this four-game stretch as a starter, with that number dipping to 0.63 DK points per minute. But what I’m concerned with here are the minutes. Billings has averaged over 27 minutes per game since joining the starting lineup and we are highly unlikely to find anyone below her pricewise that will see that much run. I’m certainly fine to roster some options below her (and you may have to depending on who you roster at captain), but as long as Billings continues in this starting role, it’s impossible for me to not list her as one of my favorite plays on the night.
Allisha Gray
Rhyne Howard
Jewell Loyd
