{"id":731437,"date":"2026-06-28T18:12:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T18:12:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/731437\/"},"modified":"2026-06-28T18:12:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T18:12:14","slug":"wnba-with-plum-injured-wheeler-burrell-among-sparks-to-watch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/731437\/","title":{"rendered":"WNBA: With Plum injured, Wheeler, Burrell among Sparks to watch"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Los Angeles Sparks\u2019 playoff hopes took a major hit last week when star guard Kelsey Plum suffered a lower leg injury. According to the team, Plum is expected to miss at least four weeks<\/a>, which puts her speculative return somewhere around July 22, or about eight games.<\/p>\n

From a fantasy basketball perspective, this is huge news, not just for those who have Plum on their rosters, but for managers who have other Sparks as well. Whenever a player of Plum\u2019s caliber goes down for an extended period of time, there\u2019s typically a mad dash to pick up teammates who may see their own production increase as a result, and given that Plum was leading Los Angeles in both points (23.9) and assists per game (6.4) at the time of her injury, it\u2019s going to take more than one Spark to pick up the slack.<\/p>\n

Erica Wheeler seems to be the most obvious beneficiary. The veteran guard hasn\u2019t had her most efficient season, shooting just 33.8 percent from the field and 23.9 percent on 3-pointers, but she\u2019s still been playing good minutes (27.7; mostly alongside Plum as a starter) and is second on the Sparks in assists per game at 4.6. Most importantly, when Plum previously missed time earlier this season, Wheeler\u2019s numbers took a leap. She averaged 14.7 points and 5.0 assists in 30.7 minutes during those three games<\/a>, so it\u2019s reasonable to assume that she\u2019ll see a similar increase in workload in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

\"With<\/a><\/p>\n

With Kelsey Plum injured, the Sparks will be depending on Erica Wheeler to be more of a playmaker. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Rae Burrell is another Spark who will likely see a larger role.<\/p>\n

Like Wheeler, she was quite productive in the handful of games Plum missed earlier in the season (14 points and 1.3 3-pointers per game), and though she\u2019s more of an off-ball guard, she still seems like a good candidate to take more shots in Plum\u2019s absence. Burrell is quietly having the best season of her career, averaging 11.9 points, 1.9 assists and 1.1 defensive stats per game\u2014good for 19.8 fantasy points per game in standard ESPN leagues\u2014and while she\u2019s rostered in only 33.9 percent of those leagues, that number is rising fast, so make sure she\u2019s not on your league\u2019s waiver wire.<\/p>\n

Courtney Vandersloot\u2019s return shakes things up for Chicago<\/p>\n

A little over a year after tearing her ACL, Chicago Sky point guard Courtney Vandersloot made her long-awaited return to the lineup, and it coincided with one of the most impressive offensive performances in WNBA history.<\/p>\n

The Sky scored 124 points against the Portland Fire, racking up a league-record 38 assists in the process, while center Kamilla Cardoso shot a perfect 13-for-13 from the floor\u2014also a WNBA record. Vandersloot herself recorded 10 points, three rebounds and seven assists in 14 minutes in the win.<\/p>\n

This is obviously going to generate a lot of buzz around the WNBA, especially taking into account Chicago\u2019s early-season struggles, and there\u2019s something to be said for a team that\u2019s had a hard time finding its way on offense getting its floor general back. Vandersloot is one of the most accomplished point guards in the WNBA, and her return will surely make the Sky better.<\/p>\n

\"Courtney<\/a><\/p>\n

Courtney Vandersloot\u2019s season debut was an impressive one, but don\u2019t expect her to get back to her old self right away. Getty Images<\/p>\n

As tempting as it might be to run out and add Vandersloot in your fantasy leagues, though, be aware that it might be an up-and-down experience, at least until she shakes off the rust. It\u2019s safe to assume that, as a 37-year old coming off a significant knee injury, Vandersloot won\u2019t be rushed back into things. A heavy minutes restriction should be expected, and a couple of rest days here and there wouldn\u2019t be a surprise, either.<\/p>\n

Beyond that, the Sky won\u2019t be depending nearly as much on Vandersloot as they did earlier in her career. With Skylar Diggins and Natasha Cloud also on Chicago\u2019s roster, the Sky have several veteran lead guards, and they can\u2019t afford to take either of them off the court for very long; Diggins is one of the few Sky who can create their own shot, while Cloud is the team\u2019s best perimeter defender. Both of them will continue to have the ball in their hands a good amount, so Vandersloot probably won\u2019t have as many playmaking opportunities as she once did.<\/p>\n

Sarah Ashlee Barker is playing a consistent role for Portland<\/p>\n

Not much has been going right for the Fire lately, and that extends far past their recent blowout loss against Chicago. Portland is now 2-7 in June, and it\u2019s looking more and more like the team\u2019s early-season success was a flash in the pan.<\/p>\n

\"Sarah<\/a><\/p>\n

Sarah Ashlee Barker has been one of the Fire\u2019s most productive players in June. Getty Images<\/p>\n

The emergence of Sarah Ashlee Barker, however, has been a pleasant surprise.<\/p>\n

The second-year guard has quietly been one of the WNBA\u2019s most improved players, and since entering the Fire\u2019s starting lineup earlier in June, she\u2019s averaging 11.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.7 defensive stats in 27.8 minutes per game. Barker has been remarkably consistent during that span, too, scoring between 20 and 27 fantasy points in every game.<\/p>\n

This is another case of a steady (if unspectacular) player turning into a must-own fantasy asset.<\/p>\n

Barker obviously isn\u2019t going to single-handedly win any leagues, but she\u2019s proven herself to be a dependable player, and there\u2019s plenty of runway in Portland for her to keep producing at her current level. Barker is only rostered in 26.3 percent of ESPN leagues, so if you have a free spot on your team, consider picking her up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Los Angeles Sparks\u2019 playoff hopes took a major hit last week when star guard Kelsey Plum suffered…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":731438,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":["post-731437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=731437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731437\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/731438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=731437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=731437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=731437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}