Jackie Young

Young’s scoring production has improved over each of her first five professional seasons, and she had one of the best years of her career in 2023. The 26-year-old shot a career-best 52.3 percent from the floor and averaged 17.6 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists in 31.5 minutes per game while appearing in every matchup. Young has developed her three-point game over the past two seasons and had the best year of her career from the perimeter in 2023, converting 44.9 percent of her 5.0 attempts from beyond the arc. Her efficiency from long range was the best mark in the league among players who attempted at least five three-pointers per game. Young has plenty of star power around her as part of the back-to-back WNBA champions, and that’s unlikely to change in 2024. However, she’s an integral part of the team’s system and has missed just two games over her first five seasons in the league. As long as her scoring can remain elevated next year, she should remain a strong fantasy asset.

Young compiled a career-best season in 2022 under new coach Becky Hammon while serving exclusively as a starter for a second consecutive season. Young averaged 15.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.4 steals in 33.2 minutes per game while converting 43.1 percent of her 3.4 three-point attempts per game, all career-high marks outside of assists. While Young is locked into a starting role in Las Vegas, the club also acquired forwards Candace Parker and Alysha Clark during the offseason after trading Dearica Hamby to the Sparks. Parker and Clark had prominent roles with their former teams and should see sizable minutes with the Aces, but Young likely showed enough growth in 2022 to warrant ample minutes with the revamped Aces in 2023.

After living up to her potential off the bench in 2020, Young secured a starting role for the Aces for all 32 in 2021. She averaged a career-high 12.2 points with 4.1 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 31.8 minutes per game. The 24-year-old is a somewhat inconsistent scorer due to a lack of shot volume, but she connected on a career-high 50.7 percent of her attempts last year. Young is in line for a starting role again in 2022 campaign as she looks to build on her previous two campaigns. Young's efficiency from the floor and modest production in other areas make her a borderline starter in standard fantasy leagues, though her upside heading into 2022 makes her a slightly more intriguing option.