Layup Lines: Atlanta's impressive depth

Happy Tuesday and welcome back to Layup Lines, your quick recap of what’s going on in the WNBA.

• Last night, Atlanta mounted a comeback to beat Golden State at home, Phoenix destroyed the short-handed Wings and we went 1-1 with our bets.

This 492 word newsletter should take about 2 minutes to read.

Three Monday takeaways

1. I try not to be an injury alarmist, but Paige Bueckers getting hit hard on the head about five weeks after missing games with a concussion is not good. Even if she doesn’t react with serious concussion symptoms, Dallas should consider sitting her through the All-Star break.

2. The Valkyries are 9-9 and hang with good opponents despite shooting 29.7% on 3-pointers as a team (12th in the WNBA).

3. Naz Hillmon was a game-high +21 in the win and has now scored 10+ in four of the Dream’s last six. Fun stat: She’s made 19 3-pointers this season after making a total of one in her prior three seasons combined.

📺 Today’s games

• We’re 50-46 this season with a mortgage-enabling $17 profit on an initial $1,000 investment.

• There are two games today — Chicago @ Washington (11:30am ET, League Pass) and Las Vegas @ New York (8pm, ESPN).

  • Starting a professional sports game early enough that summer camps can attend is charming, yet I can’t imagine it’s easy to play roughly eight hours earlier than normal.

    • Bet: Chicago / Washington under 160.5 total points scored, $50 to win $45.

  • This looked like a great matchup in May, but the Liberty have lost five of their last eight games and the Aces have been maybe the most inconsistent team in the league. Las Vegas has also not risen to big moments and New York should feel the wind of both the home crowd and the ESPN broadcast.

    • Bet: Liberty -5, $50 to win $45.

⭐️ All-Star draft to go

• Napheesa Collier and Caitlin Clark pick their All-Star teams tonight at 7pm ET on ESPN before the game, so I enlisted friend of the program and elite Atlanta Dream fan Ross Terrell to do a mock draft of the teams.

  • Ross let me be Napheesa, so he got to pick first and quickly created a terrifying starting lineup.

Armchair analysis on a made-up draft: There’s no easy way to say this, but Ross worked me and my three power forwards up and down the board while drafting the starters. Thankfully, I think I rallied while drafting the reserves by getting the shooting of Skylar Diggins and Kelsey Mitchell to go along with a dominant interior.

• This would be a fun game — who do you have winning?

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