Today we finally have a huge 5 game slate to breakdown! I’ll try not to waste your time and get right to the meat and potatoes of every match up. With that said let’s get right into it
Aces vs Liberty
First game on deck we have the Las Vegas Aces traveling to take on the New York Liberty. Last game we got to see Liz Cambage slide into the starting line up and boy did she dominate. Liz played 19 minutes and dropped 30 fantasy points. If that game wasn’t a blowout maybe, we could have seen her play a bit more, but we may never know. Both Fanduel and DraftKings have failed to truly raise Liz price so we should take advantage of the price discrepancy while we can. Oh, did I fail; to mention this is the same team she dropped a whooping 84-fantasy points on last year.
Outside of Liz I want to look at the guards for the Aces as they have one of the better match ups on the slate. The Liberty bleed points to guards making me have some interest in Kelsey Plum and Kayla McBride. Last game Plum seemed to take being benched the previous game to heart and came out on a mission dropping 25-fantasy points in 22 minutes. Plum is capable of these kinds of performances and I like her in this spot to do it again. McBride is also in play but on the high end of guards and there are other plays around her we can look at. Lastly from the Aces we must talk about sweet ole Sugar Rodgers coming back to her old stomping grounds and playing her former team who traded her away this off season. Can you say revenge?
We’ve been through this enough to start the season, but I will say it again. Tina is the Liberty and the Liberty is Tina. The Aces are still a team with some defensive issues even though they have cleaned them up a bit this season. Tina will draw Liz and Wilson defense who did a good job of shutting down Williams and Breland last time out. I’m leaning a bit of a GPP play for Tina since there are other forwards, I value above her.
Just like how we can attack the Liberty at the guard position the same can be said for the Aces. The Aces have given up some big games to guards like Courtney Williams (44-fantsay points) and Essence Carson (34-fantasy points). Now the task at hand is to figure out who will be the guard from the liberty to have that kind of game. Right now, it is between Kia Nurse and Asia Durr since they seem to be the only two guards to really play any significant minutes. If Nurse shot is falling, she can go off for a big night which we haven’t had yet. One other guard who at least is playing 20 minutes and filling the stats sheet is Bria Hartley. Hartley had a 31-fantasy point outing last game making me hesitant to go back to her tonight but has at least 3ast, 3rebs and a steal in every game. She makes for an interesting play.
Wings vs Mystic
What do we do with the Wings? Really, what do we do. We have seen starting line up change after line up change and some funky rotations to start the year. The Wings are playing at a slower pace and taking a lot more 3s as well to add to their cluster of confusion for what they really want to do. As of now until we get stability in rotations, I will be limiting my exposer to the Wings. Some things to note with the Wings is that Glory Johnson will soon be leaving for Euro Ball in the upcoming week and then maybe we will see Azura Stevens getting more minutes. Stevens is still the best player this team has and sadly I was burned by her 14 minutes of unexpected playing time last time out but will go back to her in GPP. Brooke McCarty-Williams got an unexpected start last game and is still priced as a value play. The one spot to attack the Mystic is the guard position, if BMW starts again, she makes a good value play.
On the Mystic side of things, we finally got to see EDD play more than 22 minutes, but she wasn’t very productive in them. She is still priced low for what she can produce on both sites. If we want the savings and value on Fanduel I would look at LaToya Sanders who got more minutes due to Meesseman being out. Sanders did not see a price increase on Fanduel and should see her minutes again in the high 20s. We know we can attack the Wings at the forward position so either one of EDD or Sanders can have a good outing.
Natasha Cloud had a game of the season dropping 44-fantasy points against the Liberty and Ariel Atkins disappointed. I like Atkins for a bounce back game her as a GPP play since she burned quit a few people. Shatori Walker-Kimbrough has gotten a big price jump on both DraftKings and Fanduel making her no longer a value play.
Sun vs Dream
The Sun have been a dominating force lead but none other than Jonquel Jones. Jones is the highest priced stud on today slate and rightfully so. Jones should have no problem today getting what she wants against a weak defensive Dream team (pun intended). Outside of Jones any one of the core four for the Sun can have a big game, but the one Sun with narrative today would be Courtney Williams. Williams will be playing against a former teammate she had a bit of a scuffle with last year Alex Bentley. I’ve yet to see anything saying these two have made up making this a narrative we can run with.
Sadly, the Dream have been a shell of themselves without their leader Angel McCoughtry and have a 1-3 record. It has come out that Tiffany Hayes has been playing through an apparent ankle injury so that may explain why she has been stinking up the court. With Hayes hampered by her ankle we have seen Brittney Sykes take on more ball handling responsibilities. Sykes has been the only bright spot for the Dream with consistent minutes and production. Her price on both sites is a bit to be desired but she makes a safe cash play none the less.
Mercury vs Fever
We should change this game to “The Battle of the Wives”! for those who do not know what I’m talking about DeWanna Bonner and Candice Dupree are married and get to face each other today. Bonner, we know is on a mission and lighting every team up with an insane usage rate of 31%. Bonner has done well in this match up averaging 33-fantasy points last season (keep in mind that was with Diana playing). If looking for value on the Mercury Leilani Mitchell played 24 minutes and is still priced at the minimum on Fanduel for $3300. She should be able to pay off that price tag if she’s getting the same number of minutes and lets you fit in some of the big Studs. Griner should go under owned with some of the other big names around her. She has a good match up and should dominate the Fever down low.
Natalie Achonwa is priced at $4600 on Fanduel, now before we jump onto the value train and look at her game log from last game lets look at how she has done against the Mercury. 21 minutes 12-fantsay points, 29 minutes 15-fantasy points, 11 minutes 4-fantasy points, do we see the trend? Fanduel might have her priced this low for a reason being that she hasn’t done well in this spot. Now that we have the disclaimer out of the way she still can be used as a value GPP play but for cash she’s a no go. The same can be said for Teaira McCowan who picked up 5 fouls in 10 minutes.
We can play the other side of the “Battle of the Wives” with Dupree. She has played alright against her wife, but Bonner has always had the edge. Oh, I might have failed to mention Dupree once played for the Mercury as well, but any Revenge factor is long gone at this point. Erica Wheeler has been consistent as she can be, and the sites are starting to notice it. On DraftKings priced at $7300 is right where I would want her at for this match up. Wheeler has never gotten any significant run against the Mercury in games past outside of her 2017 season where she has had some big games.
Sky vs Storm
The last game of the slate and might be one of my favorite is between none other than the Sky and Storm. The Sky upset in this match up last time with big games from their guards Allie Quigley, Courtney Vandersloot and Diamond DeShields. Now I won’t discredit the Sky at all for their performance but let’s look at some things that were in their favor. This game was on the back end of a back to back with travel and was also their 3rd game in 4 nights. Also, the Storm played with Alysha Clark resting. Now tonight the Storm should be well rested with their last game on the June 4th and 5 days of rest. Vegas has this game as a 1-point favorite for the Sky with a nice total of 164.5. If this game does in dead stay close it makes for some fantasy goodness on both sides.
Jantel Lavender has been moved into the starting line up for the Sky and has done very well in this spot. On DraftKings I will have to favor Clark at $5500 and take the $400 savings. On Fanduel Lavender is to cheap for what she can do and is one of the more reliable cheap Forwards on Fanduel. Outside of the 3 guards and Lavender there is not much that interest me on the Sky. Williams and Parker can be used as GPP plays if they get any kind of run. If you are ranking the guards, it would be DeShields>Vandersloot>Quigley in order of preference.
Nothing much has changed on the Storm outside of Alysha Clark being back in the starting line up and playing 30 minutes. Hopefully we can expect her to start again today as she makes for a core lock on DraftKings with her $5500 tag. Natasha Howard is always in play when she is on a slate, but I will take the savings on DraftKings for Clark to get my exposer at forward for the Storm and take Jones over Howard. Mercedes Russell is starting and played over 30 minutes, she makes for a value play but not someone I am that high on.
The two guards for the Storm are a tale of two sites today. First, we have Canada priced over Loyd on Fanduel and vice versa on DraftKings. On Fanduel Loyd is $900 cheaper than Canada making it a no brainer to take the savings there. On DraftKings Canada is the cheaper of the 2 making her the better play over there. Loyd is again playing in front of her hometown so there should be some family and friends in attendee for her giving some fuel to a narrative.
Follow me on twitter @Bigmacdaddyzo for starting line ups and any breaking news that may come out before lock. Good Luck and see you in the Green!
