Make sure these five early-season standouts aren’t available in your fantasy basketball leagues

It’s still early in the 2024 WNBA season, but most of the league’s top fantasy players have already established themselves. It’s pretty simple to identify the usual suspects—they’re probably who you used your first three or four draft picks on when you were choosing your fantasy team—but it’s typically easy to see who’s going to surpass their respective average draft position (ADP) early on as well. The WNBA season is relatively short and secrets can’t be kept for very long, so make sure these players aren’t on the waiver wire in your fantasy leagues.

Dearica Hamby (Los Angeles Sparks)

Current position rank: No. 4 (34.8 ADP)

It’s still far too early to declare any one player a “league-winner,” but if you drafted Hamby anywhere near or after her ADP, you’re probably a happy camper. The veteran forward is taking full advantage of a volatile situation in Los Angeles and has been one of the few players who Sparks head coach Curt Miller can count on. In a massive 37.2 minutes played per game, Hamby is averaging a career-high 20.6 points, 12.7 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.6 steals per game, and in standard fantasy leagues, her 41 fantasy points per game rank her No. 3 among forwards. The rebuilding Sparks will want to get 2024 lottery picks Cameron Brink and Rickea Jackson more reps as the season goes on, and Azurá Stevens is projected to return from an elbow injury in late June, so Hamby won’t be putting up these kinds of numbers for the whole summer, but it’s good to see her playing at her best after an up-and-down first season in Los Angeles.

Monique Billings (Dallas Wings)

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Current position rank: No. 18 (52.6 ADP)

The Wings have been dealt a bad hand with injuries at the forward position, with Satou Sabally (shoulder) not expected back until after the Olympics and Natasha Howard (foot) out for at least one more week. Dallas signed Billings to an emergency hardship contract to fill the void, and she’s played some of the best basketball of her career, averaging 13 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 30 minutes played per game. The rebounding isn’t a surprise as it’s always been Billings’ specialty, but her scoring seems to have come out of nowhere, and with the Wings’ lack of depth, she’s going to keep playing big minutes. Unfortunately for Billings, when Howard returns the Wings will need to let her go, but until then she should be rostered in all fantasy formats.

Natasha Mack (Phoenix Mercury)

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Current position rank: No. 13 (53.8 ADP)

Brittney Griner suffered a toe injury during preseason and is without a clear timeline to return, which, needless to say, has put the Mercury in a tough spot to begin the season. Phoenix didn’t have much depth in its frontcourt behind Griner in the first place, but Mack has done an admirable job filling in so far, averaging 7.4 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game. Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts likes his small-ball lineups, so it doesn’t seem likely that Mack will ever play much more than her current average of 22.1 minutes per game, and she’s not going to be a focal point of Phoenix’s offense, either. Considering she was probably a waiver-wire pickup in most leagues, though, it’s hard to be anything but happy with what she’s provided so far.

Temi Fagbenle (Indiana Fever)

Current position rank: No. 6 (53.7 ADP)

Fagbenle is back in the WNBA for the first time since 2019, and for the first time in her career she’s getting minutes that make her worthy of rostering in fantasy basketball. Fagbenle is currently posting averages of 9.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.9 defensive stats per game, and she’s shooting 56.1 percent from the field. She had also leapfrogged NaLyssa Smith in the Fever’s rotation, though she unfortunately injured her foot shortly thereafter and will be out for two to three weeks. Fagbenle is only rostered in 27.9 percent of ESPN leagues, so don’t forget about her when she returns to Indiana’s lineup.

Tyasha Harris (Connecticut Sun)

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Current position rank: No. 26 (54.2 ADP)

Entering the 2024 season, it looked like the Sun might split their point guard minutes between Harris and Moriah Jefferson, but the younger Harris has gotten the lion’s share of the reps at the position thus far, and it’s done wonders for her fantasy value. Harris is currently posting averages of 9.9 points and 3.3 assists and knocking down 1.6 3-pointers in 29.9 minutes played per game. Because much of what Connecticut does on offense is run through Alyssa Thomas, Harris still doesn’t have much of a ceiling as a playmaker, but her starting position has been secured and she’s shooting the ball well enough to put her on the map in most fantasy formats.