The other day I was lamenting the state of the sports calendar with some buddies. I hate waiting for the NFL season to start after most of my drafts are over, and I hate that there isn’t even an EPL slate to distract me from my boredom. The U.S. Open has been entertaining, but you still have to wait a few more days until you get matches with two players you have actually heard of.

Mostly, though, I am sad to see the WNBA season come to a close, even if the playoffs promise to be exciting. The only good thing is the WNBA should command a lot of attention this weekend with little else to distract from it. Tonight’s Connecticut-Phoenix game is available on Twitter, so be sure to Tweet at me if you are watching. I certainly intend to. Earlier in the night, Seattle takes on Washington on NBATV, and it would certainly be cool to watch Sue Bird pass Ticha Penicheiro as the WNBA’s all-time assists leader. Of course, the main highlight of the night is we get five games on the DFS slate, so let’s get right to it.

Player FanDuel Price  DraftKings Price Comments
Courtney Vandersloot, G, CHI $  7,000 $     11,300In her only game against Minnesota this season, Courtney Vandersloot had 26 points, seven rebounds and 13.0 assists. The Sky will presumably try to push the pace again after it led to a surprise win last time out, and Vandersloot could pick up a lot of easy assists as a result.
Sylvia Fowles, F, MIN $  7,700 $     12,000Fowles might have the biggest difference in home/road splits of any of the top WNBA players, and she is coming off three consecutive double-doubles on the road. Fowles is averaging 20.4 points, 10.7 rebounds and 2.5 blocks at home this season.
Nneka Ogwumike, F, LA $  8,000 $     11,800Only the Sky have allowed more rebounds than the Dream this season, and Ogwumike had three consecutive games of at least 21 points and 10 rebounds prior to struggling against the Lynx Sunday. I expect her to get back on track in this game.
Alexis Jones, G, MIN $  3,100 $        3,800I may have a hard time keeping Alexis Jones out of any of my lineups Friday. She has played at least 21 minutes in each of her last two games, averaging 10.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists. Her price is still pretty low, even if her ceiling isn't particularly high.
Layshia Clarendon, G, ATL $  6,000 $        9,300She might have the highest ceiling of any guard in Friday's slate outside of Courtney Vandersloot. Clarendon had 17 points and 14 assists two games ago, and if you get anything close to that Friday, you will be well on your way to GPP glory.
Shavonte Zellous, G, NY $  4,700 $        7,100Zellous should be the most athletic guard on the floor in this game, and we know she is capable of going off in any given game. She is probably a better GPP play, but I feel pretty confident she will at least match the 13 points, four rebounds and three assists she put up against this same San Antonio team last month.
Jasmine Thomas, G, CON $  5,300 $        8,500Jasmine Thomas has played just 40 minutes total in two games against Phoenix this season. She was limited to 13 minutes in the first contest after suffering an ankle injury and she played just 27 minutes a couple of weeks ago because her team won by 28. Even so, Thomas scored at least 14 points in both contests, and while I probably like her a bit more for tournament lineups, she should be fine for cash games, too.
Shekinna Stricklen, G, CON $  4,400 $        5,700Stricklen is always a cash game consideration, especially on a day like Friday when punt plays are hard to come by. She has played at least 24 minutes and scored at least 18.0 DraftKings fantasy points in five consecutive games.
Alex Bentley, G, CON $  3,400 $        5,900Alex Bentley probably shouldn't cost more than Shekinna Stricklen on DraftKings, but she certainly shouldn't cost $1000 less on FanDuel. Bentley is extremely safe at her FanDuel price, and she is averaging 12.0 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists against Phoenix this season.
Kayla Alexander, F, SA $  3,700 $        4,500I swear 80 percent of the stress in my life comes from trying to figure out who is going to get minutes for the Stars on any given day. Kayla Alexander had 19 points, six rebounds, two assists, three blocks and three steals against the Liberty a month ago, and she had 15 points and seven rebounds in 27 minutes against Minnesota her last time out. She played 15 minutes and three minutes in the two games before that, so your guess is as good as mine. A good coach would make sure she gets at least 20 minutes, but in a cash game, do you really want to count on Vickie Johnson acting like a good coach?
Alysha Clark, F, SEA $  4,000 $        5,500Clark is the Shekkina Stricklen of forwards. She is averaging 28.0 minutes per game this season, and she pretty much always gets you something. At the very least, she should be safer than Kayla Alexander.
Sancho Lyttle, F, ATL $  5,200 $        7,200Sancho Lyttle has played at least 31 minutes in each of her last two games, and the Dream picked up two consecutive wins following nine consecutive losses. Lyttle is averaging 11.0 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists in those games, and if she gets close to those numbers she will be a fine play.
Brittney Griner, F, PHO $  7,800 $     11,900It feels like all of the top forwards are playing well, so why not grab one of the cheapest? Griner had 18 points and six rebounds in 29 minutes against Connecticut a couple of weeks ago, and that feels like her floor right now. She has at least four blocks in three consecutive games, and she had 29 points and eight rebounds against Seattle Sunday.
Alyssa Thomas, F, CON $  7,600 $     10,400Thomas has played 36 minutes in two of her last four games and 28 minutes in the other two. That kind of volatility is the reason she isn't in all of my lineups. At the same time, she had 17 points, 12 rebounds and five assists in 28 minutes against Phoenix two weeks ago, and her ceiling is just as high as any of the forwards priced above her.

POSFanDuel Cash$FanDuel GPP$POSDraftKings Cash$DraftKings GPP$
GAlexis Jones$3,100Alexis Jones$3,100GAlexis Jones$3,800Alexis Jones$3,800
GAlex Bentley$3,400Shavonte Zellous$4,700GShekinna Stricklen$5,700Jasmine Thomas$8,500
GShavonte Zellous$4,700Jasmine Thomas$5,300FAlysha Clark$5,500Kayla Alexander$4,500
FSancho Lyttle$5,200Sylvia Fowles$7,700FNneka Ogwumike$11,800Nneka Ogwumike$11,800
FNneka Ogwumike$8,000Kayla Alexander$3,700FBrittney Griner$11,900Brittney Griner$11,900
FSylvia Fowles$7,700Alyssa Thomas$7,600UTILCourtney Vandersloot$11,300Layshia Clarendon$9,300
FBrittney Griner$7,800Brittney Griner$7,800     
          
 Total$39,900Total$39,900 Total$50,000Total$49,800
 Remaining$100Remaining$100 Remaining$0Remaining$200