Prime-Time First TD Bets — Monday Night Football, Week 16
Alex Christenson
Another season of WNBA DFS kicked off Friday night, and we’re right back at it Saturday morning with an early lock. There are only two games on the Saturday slate to follow up what was a fun opening night.
Throughout the season with this article, we will provide you some building blocks with analysis on the importance of those players on the slate. We’ll project starting lineups, which can be tougher to come by in the WNBA, and also list out the rest of our player pools for the day’s games.
As our own Josh Gross discussed Friday, there are many teams in the league with key members missing due to overlapping European league seasons and COVID-19 protocols. This article will also keep you updated on who is absent to begin the season and alert you as those players start to filter back to their active rosters throughout the next few slates. Let’s get started.
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DraftKings WNBA picks for tonight
Breanna Stewart ($10.800)
Starting off with the hottest of takes, I present you with the most expensive player on DraftKings. Now I’m not breaking any news here, but Stewie is the best player in the league. More importantly for our purposes, she’s at least $1k too cheap in this spot. While the Aces are a very strong team with a stout frontcourt (and my pick to win the title), I can’t get away from Stewart, who absolutely demolished the Aces last season to the tune of 52.3 DK pts per game in five matchups. Liz Cambage missed last season for Las Vegas, and she will certainly help reinforce the defense, but the last season we saw these two face off (2018) Stewart still averaged 46.6 DK points in their two matchups. She’s my favorite way to spend up on DraftKings and it’s not particularly close.
Tina Charles (8,400)
Charles was medically excused from the Mystics during last season due to her extrinsic asthma and will make her regular season debut for Washington this afternoon. Charles, one of the league’s veteran stars, will step right into a large role with Elena Della Donne and last year’s breakout star Myisha Hines-Allen remaining out for the opener. 2019 was her worst season statistically since her rookie season, but that New York team was tanking for Sabrina Ionescu (and if you paid attention to Friday’s games you know that’s going to work out for the Liberty) and Charles was still nearly a fantasy point per minute producer. I expect her to dominate the frontcourt usage until Della Donne returns and this price tag on DK is more appropriate for a full healthy Mystics squad instead of what we’ll see here.
FanDuel WNBA picks for tonight
Diamond DeShields ($3,500)
After her first All-Star season in 2019, DeShields struggled in the bubble environment last year while recovering from a knee injury. She didn’t start any of the 13 games she appeared in before leaving the bubble for good in August. It appears DeShields will reclaim her starting role to start the 2021 season, and if she gets hot from the field, her DFS stardom. This isn’t the same roster with future Hall of Famer Candace Parker coming over from Los Angeles, who will likely be the best fantasy producer from a raw standpoint. On FanDuel this is an absolute smash play at a joke of a price, but even on DraftKings at $7,900 I have a lot of interest. Deshields was right around a $10k player on DK when healthy in her second season, and she seems like a good place to get over the field in GPPs on both sites this afternoon. If things go according to plan for 2018 third overall pick, this could be her lowest price of the season on both sites.
Kelsey Plum ($4,100)
This Las Vegas roster will be hard to nail down this year from a DFS standpoint with how much talent they have. But with Angel McCoughtry going down with a torn ACL in the Aces’ lone preseason game, we have a starting spot up for grabs and it’s likely going to either be Plum or Dearica Hamby that slides into the lineup. I lean Plum, but regardless of who ends up rounding out the starting five, I like Plum for this price on FanDuel. The 2017 first overall pick is back in action after missing last season with a torn ACL of her own and she’s too cheap for her upside even if she comes off the bench. She’s struggled a bit from the floor in her young career but carries 30-plus-fantasy-point upside on any slate. Her 28 minutes off the bench in the preseason game was a good sign for her opportunity remaining high in this offense even in a log-jammed usage situation. I may not roster Plum if I was running a single FanDuel cash lineup because of how much DeShields opens up on her on own, but I like getting over the field in any sort of MME or SE GPP situation. Riquna Williams will start and becomes a strong play on both sites. I still like Plum in GPPs on FanDuel.
WNBA injury report
Sky @ Mystics:
OUT: Elena Della Donne, Myisha Hines-Allen, Shyla Heal, Azura Stevens
Aces @ Storm:
OUT: Angel McCoughtry, Mercedes Russell, Epiphanny Prince
QUESTIONABLE: Mikiah Herbert Harrigan
WNBA DFS plays
Guards: Courtney Vandersloot, Jewell Loyd, Ariel Atkins, Chelsea Gray (FD), Sue Bird (FD), Leilani Mitchell, Diamond DeShields, Kelsey Plum (FD), Jackie Young (GPP), Katie Lou Samuelson (GPP if starting), Stephanie Talbot (GPP if starting)
Forwards: Breanna Stewart, A’ja Wilson, Candace Parker, Liz Cambage, Tina Charles, Candice Dupree (GPP), Dearica Hamby (GPP), Ezi Magbegor (GPP), Astou Ndour/Stephanie Dolson (prefer starter), Theresa Plaisance (GPP if starting)
Projected WNBA starting lineups
Chicago Sky: Courtney Vandersloot, Allie Quigley, Kahleah Copper, Candace Parker, Stefanie Dolson
Washington Mystics: Leilani Mitchell, Natasha Cloud, Ariel Atkins, Theresa Plaisance, Tina Charles
Las Vegas Aces: Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young, Kelsey Plum, A’ja Wilson, Liz Cambage
Seattle Storm: Sue Bird, Jewell Loyd, Stephanie Talbot, Candice Dupree, Brianna Stewart
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