Today, the WNBA will play its final set of games before resetting for the All-Star Weekend festivities set to take place this weekend in Indiana. 10 of the league’s 13 teams are in action tonight, with two of the five games on DraftKings’ featured DFS slate, which locks at 7:30 p.m. ET. The biggest question mark for this slate is the availability of Caitlin Clark ($11,300), who tweaked her groin last night and is questionable for tonight’s contest against the New York Liberty.
Still, regardless of whether or not Clark will suit up, here are three basketball players who need to be in your fantasy lineups.
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: WNBA $40K Shootaround [$10K to 1st] (Late)
SF/PF A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces at Dallas Wings, $11,800
The reigning WNBA MVP is the most expensive player on the slate, but for good reason — she’s both excellent and consistent. Wilson missed a game and a half with a wrist injury, but returned for Saturday’s clash against the Golden State Valkyries and was utterly dominant, recording 34 points, 16 boards, and two blocks (68 FPTS) to lead her team to a 104-102 victory against the league’s fourth-ranked defense. It’s been an up-and-down season for the Aces — who, like Golden State, are fighting for a playoff spot at 10-11 — but Wilson has been as tremendous as ever, averaging 21.5 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 4.0 combined blocks/steals (45.6 FPTS) per game.
Meanwhile, though the Wings’ rebuild is going well thanks to the brilliance of Paige Bueckers ($10,500) in her rookie season, they’re still just 6-16 with the league’s third-highest defensive rating. To be fair, Dallas has been a little bit better since dealing for Chinese center Li Yueru ($7,300), but it has still allowed 106.0 points per 100 possessions and struggled in particular to defend the midrange, where Wilson is the league’s second-most prolific player behind only Bueckers. Li has done an excellent job protecting the paint, so Wilson might be slightly less efficient than usual, but I still expect her to make a difference, especially through her scoring and defense and on the offensive glass.
PG/SG Kelsey Mitchell, Indiana Fever at New York Liberty, $8,500
Given that the Fever, who sit at 12-10, will need her for the stretch run and that she’ll want to play in the hometown All-Star Game, I’d be reasonably surprised if Clark suited up tonight. That should give increased opportunity to Mitchell, who has averaged 18.7 points (27.9 FPTS) per game in 10 games without Clark this season, including a 32-point, seven-assist (46.75-FPT) performance against the Wings on June 27. Along with Clark and Aliyah Boston ($10,100), Mitchell was awarded for her efforts with her third consecutive All-Star bid.
New York, meanwhile, still has elite defensive metrics on a season-long basis, have been a fundamentally different team since losing center Jonquel Jones ($8,000), a former MVP, Finals MVP, and All-Defensive honoree. In the nine games since Jones went down, the Liberty have allowed 104.3 points per 100 possessions and allowed the league’s third-highest mark in the restricted area, second-highest from floater range, and highest mark from the midrange. Despite standing just five-foot-eight, Mitchell is the league’s seventh-most prolific restricted-area shooter, and she’s also fairly active from the midrange.
SF/PF Leonie Fiebich, New York Liberty vs. Indiana Fever, $7,700
Fiebich’s return from international duty with the German national team has been a major boon for New York, which has won three of the four games since her return and 12 of the 13 games overall in which she has appeared. Overall, the Liberty have blitzed opponents by 19.5 points per 100 possessions with her on the court and posted just a plus-0.8 net rating without her. Among players who have appeared in at least 10 games and attempted at least three-pointers per game, Fiebich’s 50% accuracy leads the league. The 25-year-old is on quite the tear, averaging 18.0 points (36.1 FPTS) across her last two games, making 14 of her 20 shot attempts and six of her 11 threes. She won’t participate in the three-point contest during All-Star Weekend, though her teammate Sabrina Ionescu ($10,700) will.
To be fair, it’ll be a tough matchup against an Indiana team that has allowed opponents to shoot just 29.5% from beyond the arc, the lowest mark in the league. Overall, it’s been a stifling defensive season for the Fever, and even if Clark doesn’t play, they’ve actually been better on that end of the floor without her. Still, Indiana’s two best defensive players, Boston and Natasha Howard ($8,200), mostly operate in the post, so Fiebich should still be able to get her preferred shots off.
