WNBA DFS picks for Saturday, July 3

Welcome back to another WNBA DFS season. Last year, we saw a condensed season conducted in a bubble, in which several key players opted out. Due to the conflicting seasons between the WNBA and European teams, many players will be late to their respective WNBA clubs. That will be something we have to navigate, in addition to the usual COVID-19 protocols. 

With this article, I’ll give you my daily core for WNBA DFS, along with some other interesting options to round out your player pool. In Showdown slates, we’ll discuss a captain, secondary option and value play to round out your lineup core. A formatted model is designed to offer you some building blocks, along with some analysis on the importance of the roles they will play in each slate. You’ll also see projected starting lineups for a convenient search of expected starters, especially in a time when getting news may be hard to come by. With that, let’s dive into Saturday’s slate. 

Core

Note: This article is covering DraftKings today.

Tina Charles

We know by now what to do when Charles is on a slate. I am hoping she (and Brionna Jones) take away some ownership from Jonquel Jones, but Charles is unavoidable against this Liberty interior. The Liberty simply do not have a body that can defend Charles, be it in the paint, at the elbow, perimeter, you name it. Charles posted over 50 fantasy points in their previous meeting, and now she gets to return to New York for the first time since the trade. With New York allowing the most points in the paint and second most second chance points per game this season, Charles is where I’m beginning Saturday’s builds.

Jonquel Jones

You would think Jones would begin most builds, but not here with Tina Charles on the slate. Jones had a bit of an underwhelming performance the other night against Indiana, while her teammate Brionna Jones exploded with 34 actual points. Chalk that up as variance, as the expectation all along was the bigs would destroy the Fever interior, and as it turned out, it was Brionna Jones, rather than Jonquel, to hit her ceiling. Hopefully that moves some onto Brionna Jones Saturday, dropping Jonquel Jones’ ownership below where it belongs. I’ll be building around both Charles and Jonquel Jones, who sport the two highest ceilings on the slate, and are both in plus matchups.

Jantel Lavender

Lastly, I know it’s another forward, but Lavender should find herself in an attractive situation with Jessica Breland once again questionable, and her absence would offer a sizable role for Lavender, Teaira McCowan, and Bernadett Hatar. Lavender is just $5,800 on DraftKings, and coming off 30 minutes the other night, would offer some upside as a value play should Breland remain out, which is currently the expectation. They will most definitely need her size against a Sun team with Jonquel and Brionna Jones.

Injury report (OUT)

Sun @ Fever: Alyssa Thomas, Julie Allemand 
Mystics @ Liberty: Elena Delle Donne, Myisha Hines-Allen (Questionable), Natasha Cloud (Questionable)

Projected starting lineups

Connecticut Sun: PG: Briann January, SG: Jasmine Thomas, SF: DeWanna Bonner, PF: Brionna Jones, C: Jonquel Jones
Indiana Fever: PG: Danielle Robinson, SG: Kelsey Mitchell, SF: Tiffany Mitchell, PF: Jessica Breland, C: Jantel Lavender

Washington Mystics: PG: Ariel Atkins, SG: Leilani Mitchell, SF: Sydney Wiese, PF: Theresa Plaisance, C: Tina Charles
New York Liberty: PG: Sabrina Ionescu, SG: Kelsey Mitchell, SF: Tiffany Mitchell, PF: Jessica Breland, C: Jantel Lavender