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We’ve finally made it to the last day of the season, and all 12 teams tip off at 4:00 p.m. Unfortunately for our purposes, only four teams really have something to play for. If at all possible, I want to try to use players from those four teams.
The Aces can clinch a first-round bye with a win or a Chicago Sky loss, and I expect both of those teams to use their normal rotations, at least for as long as those games are close. The Lynx and Seattle will play in the first round, but we still don’t know if that game will be in Minnesota or Seattle. The Lynx can clinch home court in that game with a win or a SEA loss.
After those four teams, I’ll look to use players from the lottery teams next. Those four don’t have anything to play for, but they don’t have any reason to rest their starters, either.
The Mystics and Sun are locked into a double-bye, so they have nothing to play for, but I suspect their starters will play at around 20 minutes, since they will have the next week off. Derek Fisher has said he expects to play his starters, but intimated they won’t play their full complement of minutes.
The most interesting team may be Phoenix. Phoenix is locked into the eighth seed, and it would make sense for them to rest DeWanna Bonner and Brittney Griner, considering they are second and 14th in the league in minutes this season. The one wrinkle is that Phoenix will play either Las Vegas or Chicago in the first round, and they are 0-3 against Chicago and 1-1 against the Aces this season. It could be in their best interest to beat Las Vegas Sunday so that they don’t have to play Chicago in the first round.
It’s going to be even more important than normal to pay attention to the news ahead of lineup lock. If we find out Brittney Griner is out, her replacement would be awfully interesting for DFS. Also, we might get a better idea of how much some teams will play their starters.
| Player | FanDuel | DraftKings | Comments |
| Natasha Howard, F, SEA | $7,900 | $10,900 | Howard leads the league in fppg, but she is not the most expensive forward on either site. She is averaging 41.9 fantasy points in two games against Dallas. |
| Napheesa Collier, F, MIN | $7,600 | $10,400 | Napheesa Collier might be the safest fantasy play in the entire league. She has scored at least 36 fantasy points in five of her last six games. |
| Courtney Vandersloot, G, CHI | $7,500 | $10,300 | Vandersloot has scored at least 40 fantasy points in six of her last 10 games, including against Washington two weeks ago. |
| A'ja Wilson, F, LV | $7,600 | $10,100 | Wilson has scored 48 fantasy points in each of her last two games, and she is averaging 34.5 fantasy points against Phoenix this season. |
| Teaira McCowan, F, IND | $7,200 | $9,900 | McCowan is averaging 42.7 fantasy points over her last five games. |
| Odyssey Sims, G, MIN | $7,100 | $8,700 | Sims is averaging 38.4 fantasy points over her last three games |
| Renee Montgomery, G, ATL | $5,300 | $8,000 | No team has allowed more fantasy points to opposing guards than the Liberty, and Renee Montgomery has scored at least 22 fantasy points in four straight games. |
| Jordin Canada, G, SEA | $6,500 | $7,800 | Canada is averaging 40.5 fantasy points in two games against Dallas. That's not too shocking, considering Dallas has the third highest turnover rate in the league and Canada leads the league in steals. Canada is averaging 31.0 fantasy points over her last three games. |
| Astou Ndour, F, CHI | $6,400 | $7,700 | Ndour has scored at least 28 fantasy points in six of her last seven games, including against Washington two weeks ago. With Chicago still trying to secure a first-round bye, Ndour should be a safe cash play. |
| Damiris Dantas, F, MIN | $5,900 | $7,300 | Dantas is averaging 29.9 fantasy points over her last five games. The Sparks are eighth in fantasy points to opposing forwards. |
| Alysha Clark, F, SEA | $6,100 | $7,100 | Clark has scored at least 23 fantasy points in seven of her last 10 games. |
| Mercedes Russell, F, SEA | $5,600 | $6,900 | Russell has scored at least 24 fantasy points in each of her last two games. |
| Brittney Sykes, G, ATL | $5,300 | $6,700 | The Liberty are dead last in fantasy points allowed to guards, and Brittney Sykes is averaging 33.5 fantasy points in two games against them. Sykes had 28 fantasy points her last time out, and she should play even more minutes with Tiffany Hayes out. |
| Jackie Young, G, LV | $5,900 | $6,600 | Young is averaging 30.4 fantasy points in two games against the Mercury this season despite shooting 23.8 percent from the field in those games. She has scored at least 23 fantasy points in six of her last nine games. |
| Kelsey Mitchell, G, IND | $5,600 | $6,400 | Mitchell, Erica Wheeler, Betnijah Laney and Kennedy Burke could all see more minutes with Tiffany Mitchell out, but I trust Mitchell the most and her price is reasonable. Mitchell has at least 26 fantasy points in three of her last four games. |
| Marine Johannes, G, NY | $5,400 | $6,200 | Johannes has played at least 24 minutes and scored at least 31 fantasy points in three straight games. Johannes is aggressive every time she gets the ball, and I think we can expect solid production even if she comes off the bench again. |
| Maria Vadeeva, F, LA | $4,800 | $6,000 | Vadeeva has played at least 13 minutes in each of her last two games, and she is averaging 26.6 fantasy points in those games. If Derek Fisher limits his starters' minutes like he says he is, Vadeeva should get play at least 15 minutes and score 20+ fantasy points. |
| POS | FanDuel Cash | $ | POS | FanDuel GPP | $ | POS | DraftKings Cash | $ | POS | DraftKings GPP | $ |
| G | Marine Johannes | $5,400 | G | Marine Johannes | $5,400 | G | Jordin Canada | $7,800 | G | Jackie Young | $6,600 |
| G | Renee Montgomery | $5,300 | G | Brittney Sykes | $5,300 | G | Odyssey Sims | $8,700 | G | Jordin Canada | $7,800 |
| G | Brittney Sykes | $5,300 | G | Kelsey Mitchell | $5,600 | Pivot | Courtney Vandersloot | $10,300 | F | Napheesa Collier | 10400 |
| F | Damiris Dantas | $5,900 | Pivot | Kelsey Plum | $5,300 | F | Astou Ndour | $7,700 | Pivot | Teaira McCowan | $9,900 |
| F | Teaira McCowan | $7,200 | F | Mercedes Russell | $5,600 | F | Alysha Clark | $7,100 | F | A'ja Wilson | $10,100 |
| F | Maria Vadeeva | $4,800 | Pivot | Damiris Dantas | $5,900 | Pivot | Mercedes Russell | $6,900 | F | Astou Ndour | $7,700 |
| Pivot | Kalani Brown | $4,100 | F | Kalani Brown | $4,100 | F | Damiris Dantas | $7,300 | UTIL | Damiris Dantas | $7,300 |
| F | Alysha Clark | $6,100 | F | Astou Ndour | $6,400 | UTIL | Natasha Howard | $10,900 | Pivot | Glory Johnson | $7,600 |
| Pivot | Astou Ndour | $6,400 | F | A'ja Wilson | $7,600 | Pivot | Teaira McCowan | $9,900 |