WNBA All-Star Game Best Bets
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The WNBA All-Star Game is set for this Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET and is sure to be the most memorable incarnation of the event yet.
Team USA, who will be off to Paris next week seeking their eighth straight Olympic gold medal, will have a showdown with Team WNBA, a group of All-Stars who were selected via fan, player, media, and coach voting.
Here's a look at how the rosters shake out for each side:
Team USA | Team WNBA |
---|---|
A'ja Wilson | Caitlin Clark |
Napheesa Collier | Angel Reese |
Brittney Griner | DeWanna Bonner |
Chelsea Gray | Aliyah Boston |
Sabrina Ionescu | Kelsey Mitchell |
Jewell Loyd | Dearica Hamby |
Kelsey Plum | Brionna Jones |
We're not short on star power or intriguing storylines. Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, who have carried their storied collegiate rivalry to the WNBA Rookie of the Year race, will play on the same team for the first time ever.
Team WNBA will come into this exhibition game with a vengeance. Arike Ogunbowale, who ranks third in the league in scoring and is averaging 20.5 points across her six-year professional career, was once again snubbed from the Olympic roster. She subsequently removed herself from the USA Basketball Olympic Pool. We can venture to say that she is one of a few players on Team WNBA who hoped to be playing for the other side this weekend.
Team USA, meanwhile, has a reputation to uphold. The discourse surrounding Clark's Olympic snub called for the names of some of Team USA's best players, so they'll be looking to prove their worth and dominance on a national stage.
Footprint Center will be rocking this Saturday. Let's explore where we can find betting value for the 2024 WNBA All-Star Game.
Please note lines are subject to change throughout the day after this article is published.
WNBA All-Star Game Best Bets
Team USA vs. Team WNBA
Team USA -5.5 (+100)
At the risk of dismissing some of the awesome talents on Team WNBA, this is a very lopsided matchup.
A'ja Wilson (27.2 points and 11.9 rebounds per game) is undoubtedly the best player in women's basketball and touts -3000 MVP odds.
Team USA has seven players who currently fare in the top nine of MVP odds (Wilson, Sabrina Ionescu, Alyssa Thomas, Breanna Stewart, Kelsey Plum, Jewell Loyd, and Jackie Young) while Team WNBA has just two (Clark and Jonquel Jones).
Despite the online frenzy that ensued when the Team USA roster dropped, there's a reason we're sending this team to Paris.
Exhibition games can get funky. We've seen it time and again in those uncompetitive NBA All-Star games and in this league. But we have every reason to expect a competitive game this weekend, so pure talent matters. Not only are the personal stakes high for each group, but Team USA was denied proper practice time due to the ongoing WNBA season, so they'll approach the All-Star game as a dry run for the Olympics.
Wilson, Collier, and Stewart will be a tough trio to stop. They're backed by awesome playmakers in Thomas, Young, and Chelsea Gray.
However, Team WNBA certainly has a path to keep this one close. Although Clark has drawn intense pressure from opposing defenses, and Team USA will likely be equally as unforgiving, she has emerged as one of the best playmakers we've seen. She'll get to work with her teammate Aliyah Boston, as well as Jones and Dearica Hamby. Boston and Hamby are buckets inside the paint, and an efficient scoring night from Ogunbowale will be key for the W's team.
But beyond the talent, Team USA also has cohesion on their side. The group features four players on the Las Vegas Aces, three players on the New York Liberty, and three players on the hometown Phoenix Mercury. These stars know how to play together and have had the benefit of practice in the days leading up to Saturday.
Team USA opened as 6.5-point favorites with -110 odds on the spread. We now have the chance to side with them as 5.5-point favorites at even money.
It'd be fun to root for the underdog story in Team WNBA, and perhaps that would be the move if there was any indication that Team USA is solely focused on preserving their team for the Olympics. But in what should be a competitive game, I have to side with the more talented and connected group.
Kahleah Copper 3+ Made Threes (+116)
Let's back the hometown hero to get busy from downtown.
Copper is averaging 23.3 points (second-most in the WNBA) and 2.1 three-point makes (10th-most) for Phoenix. She shoots the eighth-most three-point attempts in the league and could find success in an All-Star game that always favors three-point shooting.
This will be Copper's fourth straight All-Star appearance and her first time playing for Team USA. I imagine some of the Team USA vets (Taurasi, Stewart, and Griner) will take a bit of a backseat in the scoring department to let some of the newcomers shine.
Copper checks all the boxes when looking for someone who could have a scorching performance in the All-Star game. She'll probably log decent minutes. Gray, Griner, and Collier have all had injury flare-ups this season and could be used more sparingly on Saturday. The same could be true for the 42-year-old vet Taurasi. Copper is a safe player to give the go-ahead on her home floor, and we know she has no trouble maintaining a high shot volume.
I'd consider Copper in the WNBA All-Star MVP market at +1200.
Caitlin Clark 4+ Made Threes (+116)
Put Clark in an exhibition game and we could see her hurling up those logo threes.
While I do think this contest will take on a more serious and competitive tone than a typical All-Star game, we should still see some hijinks from behind the arc.
Cheryl Miller is set to coach Team WNBA. Miller has been quite complimentary of Clark and serves as the ideal candidate to let her cook. The rookie and star of the show for many is primed to log plenty of minutes in this game, and we know she isn't shy from downtown, averaging 8.3 three-point attempts (second-most in the WNBA).
Her underwhelming 32.7% three-point percentage has, in part, been caused by intense pressure from defenses on the perimeter. Team USA won't roll over and die on defense, but the optics of potentially picking up Clark at half-court during an exhibition game might not be worth it.
Clark declined an invitation to participate in the WNBA's 3-Point contest. She's saving the hoopla for Saturday.
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