Layup Lines: $500k for this Caitlin Clark card?

Happy Thursday and welcome back to Layup Lines, your quick recap of what’s going on in the WNBA. I’ve watched Tuesday’s Commissioner’s Cup final twice and think Indiana beating Minnesota by 15 without Caitlin Clark is the most impressive win in the league so far this season.

•  The WNBA schedulers have once again deprived us of games tomorrow, but we’ll still be sending a newsletter to recap tonight’s action.

This 496 word newsletter should take about 2 minutes to read.

Today’s games

• We’re 45-40 this season with a $91 profit off an initial $1,000 budget.

• Buckle up for five games today — Las Vegas @ Indiana (7pm, Prime Video), Los Angeles @ New York (7pm, League Pass), Seattle @ Atlanta (7:30pm), Phoenix @ Dallas (8pm) and Washington @ Minnesota (8pm). We’re taking four of them:

  • Indiana is still missing Clark and might still be coming down off the big win on Tuesday. That was not a sober locker room.

    • Bet: Aces -5, $50 to win $45.

  • The Liberty have been a sieve on defense without Jonquel Jones, but they’re now well-rested and this is too many points.

    • Bet: New York / Los Angeles under 169.5 total points scored, $50 to win $45.

  • My guess is that Rhyne Howard doesn’t play for Atlanta with an upper body injury, which should open things up for Seattle.

    • Bet: Seattle / Atlanta over 160 total points scored, $50 to win $46.

  • The Wings are so banged up that dressing nine players tonight would be a best case scenario. I don’t know how they’re going to score.

    • Bet: Dallas under 77.5 points scored, $50 to win $45.

Good reads from around the league

• Minnesota Lynx don’t need to panic after Cup loss. But it may be time for adjustments (The Athletic)

• The Atlanta Dream Offense Is Really Fun, and Also Really Good (Her Hoop Stats)

• Sue Bird is getting a statue outside Climate Pledge Arena, becoming the first player in league history to be honored with a statue by a franchise. (Seattle Storm)

Card of the day

• I personally detest that Panini put the best cards from the 2024 class into a premium product called Rookie Royalty WNBA that started as a Dutch auction with a $30,000 ceiling and $3,000 floor. That is way too much money for a box of basketball cards.

  • So it was no surprise that a streamer, who can afford to pay that price because they’re also upselling the product, pulled the 1/1 Immaculate Caitlin Clark Logowoman yesterday.

  • If put up for auction, I’d be willing to bet this fetches $400-$600k and becomes the new most valuable women’s sports card of all-time.

Layup Lines is written 100% by human beings and we appreciate your support. If you’re still reading this newsletter, you must like it enough to share with a friend. We’ll see you back here tomorrow.

— Everett Cook, Founder & Editor