Jones’ early-season struggles finally seem like a thing of the past, though, as the former MVP has been looking more and more like her old self, which was probably the deciding factor in more than a few fantasy matchups last week. Let’s check in with who’s not, who’s not, and who’s lukewarm in the WNBA.

Atlanta Dream

Atlanta’s minutes are all over the place right now, especially in the frontcourt, with Monique Billings, Naz Hillmon, and Iliana Rupert cleaning up whatever is left over from starters Cheyenne Parker and Nia Coffey. Both Parker and Coffey should be rostered – Parker earned her first All-Star appearance this season, and Coffey is playing some of the best basketball of her career, having recently recorded a game of 16 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists – but it’s tough to justify using a roster spot on any other Atlanta big, unless you’re in a deep league that has a center-only roster spot, in which case Rupert is serviceable at best.

At point guard, Danielle Robinson continues to start over Aari McDonald, but McDonald has clearly been the more productive player since returning from a shoulder injury. Last week (three games), McDonald averaged 12 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 3.3 assists in 23.3 minutes per game, and while her lack of steals (0.2 per game, compared to 1.5 per game last season) remains surprising, she’s clearly the higher-upside play of Atlanta’s point guards, even if the Dream keep bringing her off the bench.

Chicago Sky

If there was any question that the Sky are now Kahleah Copper’s team, the guard answered them in July. For the month, Copper averaged 22.8 points per game, shooting 50% from the field and 40% from 3-point range, often looking like the lone dependable scorer in a Sky offense that has had more than its fair share of road bumps this season. Copper got off to a slow start this year, but has only improved as the season has gone one and she’s gained confidence in being Chicago’s primary offensive option.

In the Sky frontcourt, forward Ruthy Hebard responded to a DNP last Tuesday with her two best games of the season since returning from maternity leave, totaling 15 points and 5 rebounds in 24 minutes. Hebard has mostly been taking Morgan Bertsch’s minutes, and that should continue as she gets back into game shape. Right now it’s hard to justify rostering either player given how few minutes both are playing, but if you must choose, Hebard’s value is looking higher than Bertsch’s.

Connecticut Sun

The Sun have been running the same seven-player rotation for a few games now, with backup point guard Tyasha Harris now barely playing behind Natisha Hiedeman and forward Olivia Nelson-Ododa serving as the team’s only “true” big off the bench. With head coach Stephanie White riding her starters so hard, there’s not much to report on; Alyssa Thomas is a regular candidate to either play a full 40 minutes or record a triple-double (she has 4 of them on the season,which is a WNBA record), while DeWanna Bonner is soundly outplaying her ADP of 26.9 (currently ranked 12th in standard scoring leagues).

Connecticut did recently sign 6’10” center Bernadett Határ to an emergency hardship contract, but she hasn’t played yet, and we’d assume she’s only there to provide insurance for Nelson-Ododa. It looks like the Sun have fully committed to starting Thomas at center, and given how much she plays (36.4 minutes per game), there won’t be many minutes left over for Határ even if she cracks the rotation.

Dallas Wings

Like Connecticut, the Wings have settled into a plan to play their starters heavy minutes, with two or three bench players getting the rest of those minutes but no clear trend as to who those players are. Rookie forward Maddy Siegrist, for example, scored 10 points in 11 minutes last Friday, but played mere seconds in the Wings’ following game; similarly, forward Awak Kuier followed up a 12-point, 4-rebound performance in 14 minutes with just 1 point in 6 minutes in her next game.

This, obviously, makes life very easy for fantasy managers, especially in shallower leagues. We’d reckon that Satou Sabally has been a league-winning player to this point, currently ranking 8th in fantasy points per game in standard leagues on an ADP of 30.8. Sabally recently recorded the first triple-double of her career, and as long as she can keep playing minutes in the low- and mid-30s, she’ll keep putting up big-time stat lines for Dallas.

Indiana Fever

The Fever were a disaster during the month of July, going 1-10, and it’s only a matter of time before they pull the plug completely and go all-in on their young players. That hasn’t happened quite yet, but veteran forward Emma Cannon has lost much of the appeal she had when NaLyssa Smith was announced out with a stress fracture; Cannon hasn’t played over 20 minutes in a game since July 19, though Amanda Zahui B. is an even less intriguing fantasy option. Indiana is still committed to Victoria Vivians as a small-ball power forward, and while she has put up her fair share of duds this season, too, a 17-point, 6-rebound effort last Tuesday reminded fantasy managers what she can do if she’s given the shot attempts.

Otherwise, there aren’t many trends in Indiana to take note of. Rookie forward Victaria Saxton played a season-high 10 minutes in the team’s most recent game, scoring 5 points and pulling down 1 rebound, but unless Vivians and Smith are both shut down, it’s hard to see Saxton being a viable fantasy player.

Las Vegas Aces

The Aces were the bearer of bad news when they announced that forward Candace Parker would be undergoing surgery to address a fracture in her foot. No timeline was given for her recovery, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the team hold her out for the rest of the regular season – if she returns at all this year, that is.

Meanwhile, guard Riquna Williams was recently arrested and faces several charges for domestic battery and has been barred from all Aces activities. Williams hasn’t played this season due to a back injury, and it’s now safe to assume that she won’t play another minute for the Aces even when she gets healthy.

As we discussed last week, the Aces have more than enough talent to keep on rolling, and their 23-2 record is proof enough. Not much is going to change in their rotation, with A’ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum, and Jackie Young all playing heavy minutes and ranking in the top 20 in fantasy points per game in standard formats. Plum, in particular, has been on quite the hot streak, averaging 23.9 points and 4.1 assists per game in July while shooting 44.1% from long range.

Consider adding forward Alysha Clark if you haven’t already. In seven games without Parker, Clark is playing 22.4 minutes per game, posting averages of 8.3 points and 4.4 rebounds while shooting 51.2% from the field. Clark has never been a high-usage player, but her defensive versatility and offensive efficiency will ensure she plays enough to contribute, and with the news that Parker will be out indefinitely, Clark becomes an intriguing waiver-wire add in deeper leagues.

Los Angeles Sparks

Just when it looked like the Sparks were finally getting healthy, guard Lexie Brown has once again fallen ill. Brown, who had previously missed over a month with an unspecified illness, has missed the Sparks’ last two games, and rookie Zia Cooke has been ineffective in her stead, totaling 5 points and 1 steal in 24 minutes. Jasmine Thomas, who we all but wrote off last week, has totaled 45 minutes during that span, and though she doesn’t provide much offensive upside, she’s much more dependable than Cooke for peripheral statistics, and the fact that she played more than the rookie off the bench in both games should say a lot about what Sparks head coach Curt Miller’s intentions for the rest of the season are.

For that same reason, keep playing Jordin Canada. She’s clearly Miller’s favorite at the point guard position, and it’s easy to see why: Canada has been the Sparks’ best on-ball defender and is averaging career-highs in scoring (13.6 points) and distributing (5.9 assists) while also becoming a respectable shooter from 3-point distance. Currently the 27th-ranked player in standard scoring formats, Canada is destroying her ADP of 50.5, and should be in consideration for Most Improved Player at the end of the season.

Minnesota Lynx

Just when we thought the Lynx were going to truly embrace the tank, they started playing their best basketball, and without their best player. Minnesota announced that forward Napheesa Collier (21.8 points, 7.9 rebound, and 2.7 defensive stats per game) would miss 7-10 days with an ankle injury, but since then has beaten both New York and Connecticut and returned to .500 and sixth place in the standings.

We’re not exactly sure what this means for Minnesota for the rest of the season, but the Lynx wouldn’t be having their recent success without Kayla McBride, who has been on an absolute heater. In her last three games, McBride is averaging 20 points per game and shooting a blistering 68.8% from the field. McBride’s game isn’t the most fantasy-friendly due to her lack of peripheral stats, but when she’s shooting the ball like she has been lately, it’s easy to look past that.

Minnesota’s starting lineup since Collier got injured has also been of note, with head coach Cheryl Reeve opting for a taller frontcourt with both Dorka Juhász and Nikolina Milic. Juhász is the one who the Lynx really like and who will continue to get most of the frontcourt reps, but the streaming value Milic gained while Jessica Shepard was out with an illness has held for now. That doesn’t mean the worst for Shepard, either; even though she’s coming off the bench now, she doesn’t need a ton of playing time to contribute solid fantasy lines, as she proved on Sunday when she recorded 12 points and 14 rebounds in 24 minutes. Shepard probably won’t be hitting the 30+ minute mark with regularity like she was before falling ill, but don’t be in a rush to drop her, either, even when Collier returns.

New York Liberty

It’s official: Jonquel Jones is back. New York was put in a tough scheduling spot last week, playing four games due to an early-season reschedule, but Jones’ stamina did not seem to be a problem, as she averaged 13.5 points and 13.5 rebounds in 28 minutes per game. Since the All-Star break, Jones is averaging 15.7 points and 12.1 rebounds in 28.4 minutes per game while shooting 58.6% from the field and 43.5% on 3-pointers; these are the numbers the Liberty expected when they traded for the former MVP, and if the plan was to ramp her up slowly throughout the season, they’re certainly reaping the rewards now.

Veteran point guard Courtney Vandersloot missed one of New York’s games last week for what the team described as “rest,” which is certainly something to monitor. Granted, it was the second half of a back-to-back caused by the aforementioned rescheduling, but the Liberty play another back-to-back later in the season – against the first-place Aces and the 10th-place Mercury – so don’t be surprised if Vandersloot sits out one of those games as well.

Phoenix Mercury

Star center Brittney Griner missed the Mercury’s last game to take care of her mental health, and she’ll miss the next one as well, which changes just about everything Phoenix wants to do offensively. If the new plan is “let Diana Taurasi shoot the basketball,” we wouldn’t be surprised, especially with Taurasi closing in on 10,000 points for her career.

Even so, there’s plenty of frontcourt usage to go around for as long as Griner isn’t playing, most of which will go to forwards Michaela Onyenwere and Megan Gustafson. Gustafson hasn’t seen much time as a starting center in her WNBA career, but she’s a highly efficient scorer, and her defensive deficiencies can be covered playing next to Brianna Turner. In the Mercury’s last game against Chicago, Gustafson recorded 17 points and 8 rebounds, while Onyenwere added 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. They’ll both be shooting the ball a lot more if Griner misses more time.

Seattle Storm

Hopefully you were able to pick up Gabby Williams when it was announced the Storm would be re-signing her midseason, because the reintegration of the forward into the team’s lineup has changed things considerably. In the Storm’s last five games, Williams has averaged 9.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.6 steals in 31.1 minutes, but it’s come at the cost of Nia Nurse, who played just 11.9 minutes per game off the bench during that span and produced almost no counting stats. Ivana Dojkic’s minutes have fallen off a cliff, too, playing 8, 0, 4, and 2 minutes in her last four games.

The Jordan Horston experience, however, has been a fun one. The rookie wing has flashed all of her tools lately, averaging 11.5 points on 63.3% shooting from the field while also recording 3.5 rebounds and 1.8 steals in her last five games. The Storm may continue to be frustrating with Dojkic and fellow youngster Jade Melbourne as they bring them along, but Horston should be considered a full go for the rest of the season and will produce her fair share of beefy stat lines from here on.

Washington Mystics

Brittney Sykes has been tasked with a larger offensive role without forward Elena Delle Donne (ankle) in the lineup, and while her offense has cooled off considerably (15.4% 3-point shooting last week), her defense remains elite: Sykes totaled a whopping 15 steals in her last three games, undoubtedly making fantasy managers in leagues that reward defensive stats very happy. Expect Sykes to continue producing on both ends of the floor, especially with Delle Donne on the mend.

Oh, and have the Mystics finally cleared Myisha Hines-Allen to play a bit more? The forward has spent much of the season recovering from offseason knee surgery but played her first games of over 20 minutes last week, which can only be a good sign. Granted, Washington doesn’t have much of a choice; Delle Donne, starting center Shakira Austin, and backup center Queen Egbo are all out. It would be nice to see Hines-Allen get going, though, and given her quick trigger with the basketball (30 shot attempts in 65 total minutes last week), she could be a productive player to claim off the waiver wire.