By the end of this week, we will officially be at the Olympic break. There are only two days of games this week, with every team playing once. Most leagues should have their matchups set up to go until August 18th, which will include four more days of games in the middle of next month. We’ll take a look at those closer to time and recap what we saw in the Olympics in the next rendition of this column.
For now, we’ll just focus on last week and this short week.
A’ja Wilson has been on an absolute tear lately. She has at least 20 points and 15 rebounds in three straight games and a 20-point double-double in five straight games. She had 33 points, 18 rebounds, three steals, five blocks and three 3-pointers in a win over the Dream on Friday, which came two days after the first 20/20 game of her career in Seattle. In ESPN standard leagues, Wilson has at least 200 more fantasy points than every other player in the league. She is well on her way to winning the league MVP award for the third time in her career.
A'ja Wilson have mercy pic.twitter.com/2yR17QQTyu
— Mark Schindler (@MG_Schindler) June 4, 2023
Rachel Banham has had a quiet season, but she had a loud performance on Sunday. She exploded with eight 3-pointers off the bench in the win over the Mercury, which set the WNBA record for triples off the bench in a game. It was a fun performance, but managers shouldn’t be rushing to add Banham off the waiver wire.
RACHEL BANHAM WITH THE MOST THREES OFF THE BENCH IN WNBA HISTORY (8) 🤩 pic.twitter.com/PmoJKXDeBc
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 14, 2024
Aside from dealing with foul trouble in their loss last Wednesday, Aliyah Boston has been playing incredibly well for the past month. She hauled in a season-high 16 rebounds in Sunday’s win over Minnesota, which came two days after she put up 21 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks against the Mercury. Caitlin Clark has obviously been instrumental in the team’s recent success, but Boston has certainly made a massive impact as well.
Aliyah Boston with the one-handed rebound AND put back.. sheesh !! pic.twitter.com/5CGhqFaD34
— Bri Lewerke (@brilewerke) July 14, 2024
Week 10 games played:
1 game- every team
Light game days:
Wednesday: 2 games
Atlanta @ Minnesota
Indiana @ Dallas
There are obviously no back-to-backs this week with every team only playing one game. There are four games on Tuesday and two games on Wednesday, so the only advantage would be to pick up a player from one of the four teams that plays Wednesday night when waivers process that morning.
Headlines:
Skylar Diggins-Smith (ankle) exits early Sunday
Diggins-Smith has had an excellent first season with the Storm, but she was forced to exit early from Sunday’s win over the Dream. Sami Whitcomb (24.5% rostered) took on an extended role in her absence and provided 13 points, four rebounds, four assists, two steals and three triples in 24 minutes off the bench, despite an inefficient shooting night. 12 of her 13 attempts were from deep, and if they choose to let Diggins-Smith rest for their final game before the Olympic break, Whitcomb will be worth streaming.
Skylar Diggins-Smith swipes it away, dishing it to Sami Whitcomb for the the transition triple! 🎯
— OutOfSightSports🚀™️ (@OOSSports) July 14, 2024
The Storm lead 42-36 at halftime!
#WNBA
pic.twitter.com/6Jf1qyq4gS
Breanna Stewart dealing with hamstring injury
Stewart missed Sunday’s win in Chicago because of a hamstring injury, which allowed Kennedy Burke (0.8%) to start in her place. She logged 31 minutes and contributed seven points, three rebounds, two assists, three steals, one block and one 3-pointer. That isn’t elite production, but the opportunity is certainly there for her if Stewart remains out against Connecticut on Tuesday.
And that's MONEY from Kennedy Burke 🎯
— New York Liberty (@nyliberty) July 13, 2024
KB for 👌 | #LIGHTITUPNYL pic.twitter.com/HynWwkNhIp
Mercury dealing with multiple injuries
Diana Taurasi (leg), Britney Griner (hip) and Natasha Cloud (knee) all played on Sunday despite the injury designations. Taurasi and Cloud both missed Friday’s game, and Griner ended up exiting early after suffering her injury. Luckily, they only have one more game before the break, which will give Cloud a chance to rest. Taurasi and Griner won’t get as much rest while suiting up for Team USA, but they will still get a chance to heal up before their season resumes.
Rookie watch:
Caitlin Clark
Despite closing out the week with a subpar performance on Sunday, this was a strong stretch for Clark. She added two more double-doubles to start the week, which gave her a five-game double-double streak before it ended up Sunday. She also had one of her best games of the season on Wednesday with 29 points, five rebounds, 13 assists, five steals, three blocks and five 3-pointers against the Mystics.
This back door cut, pass, and reverse layup between Lexie Hull and Caitlin Clark 😮💨😮💨 pic.twitter.com/aswG6HLk0D
— Bri Lewerke (@brilewerke) July 14, 2024
Angel Reese
The double-double streak may have come to an end after 15 games, but Reese has already cemented her name in history during her rookie season. She finished with just eight points on Sunday, but she still grabbed 16 rebounds, so she hasn’t had single digit rebounds in a game since May. The field goal percentage will start to be more of an issue when category leagues come to WNBA fantasy, but she’s still among the best players in fantasy because of her dominant rebounding numbers.
History continues to be made for Angel Reese ‼️
— WNBA (@WNBA) July 12, 2024
She extends her double-double streak to 15 consecutive games #WelcometotheW pic.twitter.com/wJvSymk4WX
Kamilla Cardoso
Cardoso has been overshadowed by Angel Reese at times, but she has still had a strong rookie season. She had her third double-double of the season against Atlanta on Wednesday while also swatting three shots. Only Cameron Brink is averaging more blocks per game among rookies, and Cardoso is fifth in points per game (8.2) and second in rebounding (7.8).
This is why the All-Star & Olympic Breaks will be so vital and important for the Sky, especially Kamilla Cardoso.
— Karli Bell (@KarliBell33) July 10, 2024
Getting her to work with the guard group more in practice will lead to them finding her spots underneath. Also, great positioning by Cardoso for the reverse pic.twitter.com/zkUNILp4c2
Rickea Jackson
After scoring a career-high 22 points a week ago, Jackson followed that up by setting a new career-high with 23 this past Saturday. She has been LA’s second scoring option behind Dearica Hamby for most of the season, and she has thrived in that role. She has had some issues with consistency, which is to be expected for rookies. However, when she’s at her past, she is excellent in fantasy.
Rickea Jackson : Season-high 23 points on 8-14 shooting, 7-9 from the FT line & 7 rebounds in 29 minutes (2nd 20-point game in her last 3 games) pic.twitter.com/2BN0iCpivA
— Lee Harvey (@MusikFan4Life) July 13, 2024
