WNBA Player News

The Dream remain without injured point guard Jordin Canada, who went down during the preseason with a knee injury. However, while Shatori Walker-Kimbrough was her replacement in the starting lineup for Atlanta’s final preseason game, first-year head coach Karl Smesko has decided to hand the keys to Paopao for the regular season opener. Paopao’s an excellent perimeter shooter, and her ability to run a team will be on full display Friday night. Playing alongside Atlanta’s veterans should help the rookie in her WNBA debut.

McConnell left the game against the Lynx on Tuesday night with 1:43 left in the fourth quarter. After getting a steal and driving the ball the other way with 1:46 left in the fourth, McConnell was tripped up going the other way and banged her right knee against Lynx forward Alissa Pili. McConnell held onto her knee in pain and as a result had to be carried off the floor. The Mercury announced earlier on Tuesday that they signed McConnell to a rest of the season contract after previously waiving guard Sevgi Uzun. If this injury is as serious as it looked, Phoenix will have to rely upon more minutes from facilitating wing Haley Jones coming off the bench.

Based upon early returns, the matchup with the Fever appears to be a favorable one for Austin. Having scored 13 points in 15 minutes in a May 28 win over Indiana, the fourth-year post reached double figures again on Tuesday. In Austin’s other three appearances this season, she has totaled six points. Unfortunately for her, Washington won’t play Indiana again until August 15. Also, the role Austin has been asked to play, logging limited minutes off the bench, gives her a low fantasy ceiling, especially with Aaliyah Edwards (five points, one rebound and one assist) returning to the rotation after missing Washington’s first four games with a back injury.

Citron continues to do a little bit of everything for the Mystics, most recently finishing Tuesday’s defeat one steal shy of a complete stat line. The rookie guard has reached double figures in all seven of Washington’s games with shooting splits of 47.2 percent from the field, 40.0 percent from three and 90.9 percent from the foul line. Along with teammate Kiki Iriafen, Citron has separated herself as one of the top rookies in the WNBA thus far. Washington returns home for its next game, a matchup with the reigning champion Liberty on Thursday.

Having shot 3-of-8 from the field in the first three quarters, Sykes got going in the final frame to help Washington trim a 14-point deficit down to one with 3:26 remaining. Unfortunately for the Mystics, they did not have enough offensive firepower to complete the comeback. However, Sykes has been everything the team hoped the veteran guard would be before the season began. She’s scored 20 points or more in three straight and six of the seven games she’s played this season. Sykes is averaging 35.4 fantasy points per game in ESPN leagues, which ranks fifth among all guards.

After shooting 4-of-14 from the field in Friday’s loss to the Liberty, Iriafen was far more efficient on Tuesday. The rookie forward only missed two shots from the field and was one rebound shy of her fourth double-double. Also, she became the first rookie since A’ja Wilson to reach double figures in points in her first eight games. Along with fellow first-round pick Sonia Citron, Iriafen has been one of the best rookies in the WNBA thus far and should continue to be a key building block for the rebuilding Mystics. While fantasy managers would like to see more production in the assist and defensive categories, Iriafen is averaging 26.5 fantasy points per game in ESPN leagues.

Due to starter Sydney Colson taking a shot to the nose, McDonald likely made her Fever debut a little sooner than anticipated. However, while the 2021 first-round pick of the Dream did not shoot the ball well, she was especially valuable as a facilitator and defender. McDonald drew two charges during the first half and recorded three steals, and she dished out five assists without committing a turnover. Colson, who returned to Tuesday’s game after some time in the locker room, played 16 minutes and finished with seven points, one rebound, three assists, one block and one three-pointer. McDonald is not a player who has to be added in fantasy leagues, especially with Caitlin Clark’s (quad) return potentially on the horizon. However, she played well enough on Tuesday to continue receiving rotation minutes as long as Indiana’s starting point guard is out.

While Boston did not miss a shot from the field in Tuesday’s Commissioner’s Cup matchup, early foul trouble limited her impact. The third-year forward/center was whistled for three fouls during the first half, two in the first five minutes of the opening quarter. Boston did make all four of her shot attempts in the second, but the time spent on the bench negatively impacted the final stat line. Following the win, Fever coach Stephanie White made it known that she wants the team to be more “intentional” about getting Boston shots. Also, the final tally of one rebound was a season-low for the Fever post player, who entered Tuesday averaging 9.2 per game. Boston will look to avoid early foul trouble on Saturday when Indiana visits Chicago.

After going scoreless in the first half on 0-of-2 shooting, Hull came up huge for the Fever during the third quarter. She was responsible for 12 of Indiana’s 31 points in the frame, shooting 5-of-6 from the field with two three-pointers. Having scored 12 points in Friday’s loss to the Sun, Hull has provided solid offensive contributions with Caitlin Clark sidelined by a strained quad. Clark is expected to miss Saturday’s game against the Sky as well, which raises Hull’s streaming value for deep-league fantasy managers needing offensive production.

Losers of three straight games, the Fever needed a victory Tuesday night. They also needed Mitchell to get untracked offensively after shooting 14-of-47 from the field in those defeats. That’s precisely what happened, as the veteran guard made 50 percent of her attempts from the field and hit 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. Mitchell’s 6-of-10 night from the foul line was below expectations, but that was the lone negative from this performance. With Caitlin Clark (quad) expected to miss at least one more game, the Fever will need similar production from Mitchell in Saturday’s game against the Sky.

After missing two games due to a stint in the league’s concussion protocol, Jackson returned to action but then missed another two for personal reasons. The second-year forward participated in Tuesday’s practice and said after the session that she expects to play in Friday’s Commissioner’s Cup matchup. Sarah Ashlee Barker has been Jackson’s replacement in the starting lineup, with fellow rookie Liatu King picking up additional minutes off the bench. They’re the two players most impacted by Jackson’s availability.