The Los Angeles Sparks’ playoff hopes took a major hit last week when star guard Kelsey Plum suffered a lower leg injury. According to the team, Plum is expected to miss at least four weeks, which puts her speculative return somewhere around July 22, or about eight games.
From a fantasy basketball perspective, this is huge news, not just for those who have Plum on their rosters, but for managers who have other Sparks as well. Whenever a player of Plum’s caliber goes down for an extended period of time,
there’s typically a mad dash to pick up teammates who may see their own production increase as a result, and given that Plum was leading Los Angeles in both points (23.9) and assists per game (6.4) at the time of her injury, it’s going to take more than one Spark to pick up the slack.
Erica Wheeler seems to be the most obvious beneficiary. The veteran guard hasn’t had her most efficient season, shooting just 33.8 percent from the field and 23.9 percent on 3-pointers, but she’s still been playing good minutes (27.7; mostly alongside Plum as a starter) and is second on the Sparks in assists per game at 4.6. Most importantly, when Plum previously missed time earlier this season, Wheeler’s numbers took a leap. She averaged 14.7 points and 5.0 assists in 30.7 minutes during those three games, so it’s reasonable to assume that she’ll see a similar increase in workload in the coming weeks.
Rae Burrell is another Spark who will likely see a larger role.
Like Wheeler, she was quite productive in the handful of games Plum missed earlier in the season (14 points and 1.3 3-pointers per game), and though she’s more of an off-ball guard, she still seems like a good candidate to take more shots in Plum’s absence. Burrell is quietly having the best season of her career, averaging 11.9 points, 1.9 assists and 1.1 defensive stats per game—good for 19.8 fantasy points per game in standard ESPN leagues—and while she’s rostered in only 33.9 percent of those leagues, that number is rising fast, so make sure she’s not on your league’s waiver wire.
Courtney Vandersloot’s return shakes things up for Chicago
A little over a year after tearing her ACL, Chicago Sky point guard Courtney Vandersloot made her long-awaited return to the lineup, and it coincided with one of the most impressive offensive performances in WNBA history.
The Sky scored 124 points against the Portland Fire, racking up a league-record 38 assists in the process, while center Kamilla Cardoso shot a perfect 13-for-13 from the floor—also a WNBA record. Vandersloot herself recorded 10 points, three rebounds and seven assists in 14 minutes in the win.
This is obviously going to generate a lot of buzz around the WNBA, especially taking into account Chicago’s early-season struggles, and there’s something to be said for a team that’s had a hard time finding its way on offense getting its floor general back. Vandersloot is one of the most accomplished point guards in the WNBA, and her return will surely make the Sky better.
As tempting as it might be to run out and add Vandersloot in your fantasy leagues, though, be aware that it might be an up-and-down experience, at least until she shakes off the rust. It’s safe to assume that, as a 37-year old coming off a significant knee injury, Vandersloot won’t be rushed back into things. A heavy minutes restriction should be expected, and a couple of rest days here and there wouldn’t be a surprise, either.
Beyond that, the Sky won’t be depending nearly as much on Vandersloot as they did earlier in her career. With Skylar Diggins and Natasha Cloud also on Chicago’s roster, the Sky have several veteran lead guards, and they can’t afford to take either of them off the court for very long; Diggins is one of the few Sky who can create their own shot, while Cloud is the team’s best perimeter defender. Both of them will continue to have the ball in their hands a good amount, so Vandersloot probably won’t have as many playmaking opportunities as she once did.
Sarah Ashlee Barker is playing a consistent role for Portland
Not much has been going right for the Fire lately, and that extends far past their recent blowout loss against Chicago. Portland is now 2-7 in June, and it’s looking more and more like the team’s early-season success was a flash in the pan.
The emergence of Sarah Ashlee Barker, however, has been a pleasant surprise.
The second-year guard has quietly been one of the WNBA’s most improved players, and since entering the Fire’s starting lineup earlier in June, she’s averaging 11.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.7 defensive stats in 27.8 minutes per game. Barker has been remarkably consistent during that span, too, scoring between 20 and 27 fantasy points in every game.
This is another case of a steady (if unspectacular) player turning into a must-own fantasy asset.
Barker obviously isn’t going to single-handedly win any leagues, but she’s proven herself to be a dependable player, and there’s plenty of runway in Portland for her to keep producing at her current level. Barker is only rostered in 26.3 percent of ESPN leagues, so if you have a free spot on your team, consider picking her up.
