Draftkings WNBA Showdown Picks: Dream vs. Valkyries 8/17/25
Atlanta Dream vs. Golden State Valkyries
August 17, 2025 8:30 pm EDT
The WNBA presents Draftkings basketball fans with a regular season matchup featuring the Atlanta Dream and the Golden State Valkyries. Let’s take a look at this game from a DFS perspective.
Before we dive into the Atlanta Dream vs. Golden State Valkyries game let’s review the rules for the Draftkings single game showdown contest.
Draftkings Single Game Showdown Contest Rules
You have $50,000 to utilize on five players from either team. However, one of those players will be designated as your team captain. The captain accumulates 1.5 times the standard fantasy points. Additionally, the captain is 1.5 times the standard cost of the flex position.
The remaining four players in your lineup will receive the standard fantasy points. Having stated that, it is highly important for you to identify the correct player for your captain position if you hope to win a large field DFS GPP (guaranteed prize pool) showdown contest.
If you have additional questions regarding the rules for the single game showdown contest, I recommend that you check out the Draftkings website for more details.
*I recommend that all readers review the starting lineups for both teams prior to setting your DFS lineup for this one game slate.
Here are my Draftkings picks for this evening’s Dream vs. Valkyries matchup.
Draftkings WNBA Showdown Picks
Captain-Rhyne Howard, Guard, Atlanta Dream $10,000
Veteran guard Rhyne Howard has been the floor general that the Atlanta Dream have needed to win games this season. With that said, how has Howard performed from a statistical perspective? Let’s review the talented guard’s relevant player data from the 2025 WNBA regular season to answer that question.
In the 22 games that Rhyne Howard has played for the Atlanta Dream in the 2025 WNBA regular season, Howard is averaging 16.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 1.6 steals and 0.9 blocks a game.
Looking at the data just presented more closely, in the 22 games that Rhyne Howard has played for the Atlanta Dream this season, Howard has averaged 34 Draftkings points a contest.
More recently, in the Atlanta Dream’s 85-75 victory over the Seattle Storm four days ago, Atlanta guard Rhyne Howard played rather well. In the Dream’s defeat of the Storm, Howard amassed a whopping 41.75 Draftkings points.
As I noted in the rules section above, selecting the correct player at the captain position for a Draftkings WNBA showdown lineup is absolutely vital if you hope to win a large field GPP (guaranteed prize pool) DFS contest. Keep that in mind as you construct your lineups.
In my opinion, Atlanta Dream guard Rhyne Howard is the most likely player to post the most Draftkings points in this WNBA regular season game. Having stated that, I am backing Rhyne Howard at the captain position for this one game Draftkings WNBA showdown contest.
Flex Plays
Veronica Burton, Guard, Golden State Valkyries $7,800
Guard Veronica Burton has been a key contributor for the Golden State Valkyries this season. In the 33 games that guard Veronica Burton played for the Golden State Valkyries in the 2025 WNBA regular season, Burton has averaged a robust 11.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.5 blocks a game.
Looking at the data just presented more closely, in the 33 games that Veronica Burton has played for the Valkyries in 2025, Burton has compiled a 38.6% field goal percentage, a 38.9% three-point percentage and an 86.2% free throw percentage.
Additional flex plays I like to play well in this evening’s WNBA regular season game (Draftkings price noted): Naz Hillmon, Forward (Atlanta Dream) $8,200: Janelle Salaun, Forward (Golden State Valkyries) $7,000.
