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Justin Carter's top daily fantasy WNBA lineup picks for 5/19/23. Expert WNBA DFS advice for DraftKings and FanDuel and today's best bets.
The 2023 WNBA season has arrived! Four games are on the slate Friday to open a new year of action in the W, and RotoBaller is here to help you build DFS lineups this season. This includes a big game between the Liberty and the Mystics, two of the three best teams in the league this season.
Before we get to the picks, let's talk a little about why you should follow our WNBA coverage here. I've been covering WNBA DFS picks here at RotoBaller since the 2018 season, as well as covering non-fantasy WNBA stuff for a variety of outlets. I'm not an NBA writer who dabbles in some WNBA writing during the summer; women's basketball is my main thing, and I bring years of experience analyzing this league and women's college basketball to the table.
In this article, I'll be providing you with some daily fantasy WNBA lineup picks for DraftKings and FanDuel. These lineup picks will range from elite players to mid-priced options and value plays. The slates lock on 5/19/2023 at 7:00 p.m. ET. Want to talk more about the WNBA? I'm always available on Twitter and always down to discuss women's basketball: @juscarts.
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WNBA DFS Picks: Forward
Alyssa Thomas (Connecticut Sun) -@ IND - DK: $10,800, FD: $8,600
With Jonquel Jones gone, this is Alyssa Thomas' team. Arguably the hardest-playing player in this league, Thomas is impossible to stop when she gets a head of steam and heads for the basket. She was fourth in the league in field goals made per game in the restricted area last year.
Thomas is more than just a good interior scorer, though. Last season, she took on more of a point-forward role, which led to a career-high 6.1 assists per game. The fact that the team's biggest off-season acquisition was a shooting guard—Tiffany Hayes—implies to me that the new coaching staff will still want the ball in Thomas' hands a lot. She's one of the two biggest triple-double threats in this league this season, and while she doesn't add anything in terms of three-point shooting, you'll live with that deficiency.
NaLyssa Smith (Indiana Fever) - vs CON - DK: $8,600, FD: $7,200
The addition of Aliyah Boston might hurt Smith a little in the long term as Boston likely has a higher usage rate than last year's primary center, Queen Egbo. But while Boston's still figuring out the W, I expect NaLyssa Smith to eat.
Her preseason performance was a sign of what's to come. Last Saturday against Dallas, Smith scored 22 points on 7-for-12 shooting and went 4-for-6 from three. She also added eight rebounds, two assists, and one steal to the ledger.
I'm especially interested to watch what happens with her shooting. At Baylor with Kim Mulkey coaching her, the three wasn't part of her repertoire. But in her first season in the WNBA last year, she started shooting them almost immediately, knocking down 38.1% of her 3.0 attempts per game. Boston brings some more gravity inside than Egbo, which should open up Smith to play an even bigger stretch-four role.
Napheesa Collier (Minnesota Lynx) - vs CHI - DK: $6,700, FD: $6,300
This pricing is absurd:
Collier only played four games last season after returning from maternity leave, and she definitely didn't look like herself in that four-game sample, averaging 7.3 points and 3.0 rebounds per game.
But this is a new year. And with Sylvia Fowles retired now, this is Collier's team. Her career high in points per game was 16.2. Her career high in rebounds per game was 9.0. I think she has a good chance to beat both of those numbers this week. Collier is closer to an MVP candidate than to being the 21st-best fantasy forward. Take advantage of the bad pricing here while you can, especially in head-to-head contests.
WNBA DFS Picks: Guard
Kahleah Copper (Chicago Sky) - @ MIN - DK: $9,000, FD: $7,500
The Sky went through a rough offseason. Candace Parker, Courtney Vandersloot, Allie Quigley, Emma Meesseman, and Azura Stevens are all gone, and while the team added some talented players like Courtney Williams, one look at this roster shows that this is basically Kahleah Copper's team.
Last season, Copper averaged a career-high 15.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game. It's hard to not think of those numbers as the baseline for what to expect from her this season, with a good chance for her to exceed all of those numbers. Last season, the Sky spread the ball around, with six players averaging double-digit points per game. Of those six players, only Copper is back.
Kelsey Mitchell (Indiana Fever) - vs CON - DK: $7,700, FD: $7,600
Mitchell averaged 18.4 points and 4.2 assists per game last season, both career-best marks. With a better supporting cast, that scoring number could come down some, but probably not by too much. Erica Wheeler will need the ball and the addition of Aliyah Boston puts more emphasis on the post, but overall Mitchell is still the best pure scorer on this team, even if the Fever look more talented on paper than they have in recent seasons. On FanDuel, I might look more at the value on someone like DeWanna Bonner ($6,100) or Natasha Cloud ($5,900), but on DraftKings, she's priced under both of those players and is a huge value on that platform.
Lexie Brown (Los Angeles Sparks) - vs PHO - DK: $7,000, FD: $4,900
The Sparks have a lot of talent in the frontcourt, and then also a lot of question marks in the backcourt. They were starting Layshia Clarendon, Jordin Canada, and Lexie Brown all together during the preseason, which is...a really odd lineup, since Clarendon and Canada are essentially both non-shooting point guards.
But what I think this will mean this season: Brown's going to have the green light to be herself and fire up shots at a high volume, especially in the early going when the Sparks will be limited Dearica Hamby's minutes. Brown should see a rise in her volume and has a chance to average double-digit points per game for the first time in her career.
