It’s still early in the season, but some players and WNBA odds trends are beginning to solidify themselves.
With four exciting matchups on the docket for Friday, June 2, we’ve surveyed them all to find the three best WNBA player prop picks available.
WNBA player prop bets for June 2
- Griner Over 19.5 points
- Howard Under 18.5 points
- Ogunbowale Under 24.5 points
Read full analysis of each pick.
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Today's best WNBA player props bets
Griner’s grind
Brittney Griner’s return to WNBA action has been remarkable for just how natural it’s looked. Far from exhibiting great deals of rust after her confinement, she rolled into the season looking like her All-W caliber self (or better). And she’ll have a chance to avenge the loss she suffered in her debut game today as the Phoenix Mercury again face off against the Los Angeles Sparks.
Griner should be able to dominate the matchup with her size. The Sparks have been a Bottom-3 team when it comes to overall rebounding percentage for three seasons running and as a result, they give up costly second-chance points. Dearica Hamby was brought in to reinforce the Sparks interior but she’s still ramping up following the birth of her child and has not made a huge impact so far.
Griner is a legit 6-foot-9 while Hamby and the Ogwumike sisters are 6-foot-3 or below. She simply towers over them. Griner’s rebounding prop is a touch on the high side given her historical production, but getting her points prop at 19.5 when she’s averaging more than 21 points is a good bet. It helps that through three games Griner is hitting an eye-popping 73.3% of her 2-point baskets.
Brittney Griner prop: Over 19.5 points (-115 at bet365)
Ace defense
Rhyne Howard of the Atlanta Dream is one of the most promising prospects in the WNBA and is off to a solid start in her second season. Through four games, she’s increased her overall productivity as a scorer while getting more efficient from just about everywhere.
But she’s about to run into the living buzzsaw that is the Las Vegas Aces. The Aces won the title last season, as well as just about every piece of hardware the league hands out for individual accolades. With the addition of Candace Parker this offseason, all five of their starters are better than the average All-Star player. What makes them better so far than a team like the New York Liberty, is that other than Parker, they’ve played together for years and built up a ton of continuity. Parker is such an intelligent player that she’s fit right into how they play immediately.
The results? An 84.2 defensive rating through four games (contributing to their ridiculous 28.7 net rating overall). They are just throttling opposing teams on defense, taking away their preferred actions, and limiting their shots at the basket and from three. The latter is most likely to impact Howard, who takes 6.8 3s per game.
The Aces allow one of the lowest 3-point attempt rates of any “W” team, and they do so without compromising their rim defense. Howard is, for some reason, projected by this prop to score better than her 17.8 points per game average, and I’m buying the Under.
Rhyne Howard prop: Under 18.5 points (-114 at FanDuel)
Sky is falling
Arike Ogunbowale has been off to a blazing start this WNBA season. Through four games, she’s the league’s leading scorer at 25.3 points per game and has been absolutely blitzing teams in the first half of games. That scoring burst has seen her points prop rise all the way to 24.5 however, and now the value bet is to go against the grain and take the Under.
Why? The simple reason is the step up in competition. Arike’s four games this season have come against the Atlanta Dream, Chicago Sky, Seattle Storm, and Minnesota Lynx. The Storm and Lynx are yet to win a game between them, and collectively the four are not the strongest teams when it comes to guarding the perimeter. But today, Arike is facing off against arguably the best perimeter defense in the WNBA: the Washington Mystics. The Mystics are hell to play for any team, but they live to get physical with skilled guards like Arike.
If there’s a blemish on Ogunbowale’s early performances, it’s that her volume hasn’t been matched with great efficiency. She’s scored on just 44.5 eFG%, and against the kind of pressure Natasha Cloud and company is going to show her, that number could become unsustainably ugly forcing the Sky to look elsewhere for offense.
Arike Ogunbowale prop: Under 24.5 points (-105 at bet365)
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