Swish Appeal Fantasy: Team Cat leading the way with Alyssa Thomas and plenty of backup

Here’s a breakdown of all three fantasy matchups going on in the Swish Appeal league right now.

Team Zack (Zack Ward) leads Team Draves (Zachary Draves) 388.3 - 289.5

Zack’s gamble on Brittney Griner looks like it was a good idea! Griner is the third-highest-scoring fantasy player in the league in total points, behind only Breanna Stewart and Alyssa Thomas. She had 18 points, six rebounds and four blocks in her first game and then really came alive in her second game, which was her home opener, notching 27 points, 10 boards and another four rejections. She even made a three in that second game, so there were some surprise fantasy points for Zack there! Griner is shooting a phenomenal 72.7 percent from the field and has made 12 free throws.

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Seattle got blown out in its opener, but Zack got a solid 42.1 fantasy points from Jewell Loyd, who had 22 points. He’s hoping to get some 30- and 40-point games from Loyd this year. Nneka Ogwumike also had a solid outing, giving Zack 36.9 fantasy points in her opener. DeWanna Bonner has been a pleasant surprise, averaging 20 points and 35.5 fantasy points for Zack through two games. Courtney Williams could drive Zack crazy with all her long twos not being threes, but she does have three treys through two games and is producing in the rebounding and assist departments, as expected. Zack has gotten almost nothing from Erica Wheeler, which is disappointing.

Zachary is being led by the Dream duo of Rhyne Howard and Cheyenne Parker. Howard had 20 points (four threes) and 10 rebounds in her opener but shot 33.3 percent from the field. Parker had 18 points, 11 boards, three assists and three steals. Zachary’s first-round pick, Napheesa Collier, was solid with 17 points, five rebounds, two assists and four blocks in her opener. Elizabeth Williams has been a pleasant surprise for Team Draves with an average of 34.6 fantasy points through two games. She is averaging 12 points and has done a little bit of everything (rebounds, assists, steals and blocks).

Kelsey Mitchell scored 20 points for Zachary in her opener, but just 10 in her second game. Zachary also suffered from Marina Mabrey missing the Sky’s second game.

Team Nemchock (Eric Nemchock) leads Team Leite (Chelsea Leite) 418.6 - 324.6

Eric sits in second place in the league in points. None of his players are averaging 40-plus fantasy points, but he’s getting legitimate contributions from nearly everyone, with Teaira McCowan’s 12.7 being the lowest. Everyone else is averaging 20-plus.

At the top for Eric, it’s Brionna Jones, who continues to impress with her steals numbers for someone at her position. Arike Ogunbowale is next after her 27-point game that saw her miss 16 field goal attempts and only register one assist. A’ja Wilson and Natasha Cloud round out Eric’s players with fantasy averages of 30-plus. Wilson wasn’t the number one scoring option in her opener on a loaded Aces team. Cloud looks like she’s destined for a big season, and perhaps an All-Star bid. She’s averaging 13.5 points through two games and dished out six helpers in both contests. However, she did shoot 1-of-9 from distance.

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Chelsea’s two Aces selections are doing good for her so far. Kelsey Plum had 43.1 fantasy points in her opener; Candace Parker had 39.5. Chelsea also has Chelsea Gray, who was solid with 32.4. In third place on Team Leite is Sabrina Ionescu with an average of 38.1 fantasy points. Ionescu, always a triple-double threat, is averaging 13.5 points, eight rebounds, five assists and 1.5 steals through two games. She’s made five threes. So Chelsea hasn’t been hurt by having a good chunk of her roster on super teams that could potentially share the wealth.

Chelsea also has probably the most highly-anticipated fantasy player in Aliyah Boston. Boston has done well with 15 points in each of her games so far and a field goal percentage of 64.7.

Team Cat (Cat Ariail) leads Team Josh (Josh Felton) 474.9 - 337.1

This is a big-time matchup between Alyssa Thomas (Team Cat) and Breanna Stewart (Team Josh). Stewart’s 45-point performance on 15-of-21 shooting from the field and 6-of-9 shooting from three in her second game earned her 84.2 fantasy points! Josh also has Natasha Howard giving him 53.3 fantasy points and Jackie Young giving him 41.5, but nobody else on his roster has an average of 30-plus. Former MVP Jonquel Jones is averaging just 18.8 through two games.

Cat counters with Thomas’ 55.8 fantasy points per game, and also Satou Sabally, who had 55.7 in her opener. AT leads the league in rebounds per game and has flirted with a triple-double in both of her outings. She looks like she is going to be one of the best fantasy players in the league throughout the season. Sabally was phenomenal with 25 points (three threes), seven rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks in her opener. She was left off our Top 30 list this year, but could possibly prove us wrong and reach that high ceiling we’ve always seen in her.

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Cat has three more players averaging 30-plus fantasy points: Elena Delle Donne, Kahleah Copper and Shakira Austin. Delle Donne is capable of playing even better than she is right now, but is still doing solid with an average of 39.2 fantasy points through two contests. Copper’s 3-point stroke looks better than it’s ever been (she’s 4-of-5 on the season) and she is going to have the ball in her hands more than ever this year with all the departures of star players from Chicago. Austin's 30-plus fantasy points per game come as more of a surprise, but not a huge one. We know she is a special player; she had 21 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the field and 11 rebounds in her second game.