New head coach Stephanie White made that clear when she described how her team would look in the upcoming season. “I think offensively, we can be more creative. I think we can utilize more versatility, utilize certain players in different ways,” White said. She wants to have an up-tempo team that improves on defense.
The front office for the Indiana Fever also dropped a hint that they’ll put a reshaped product on the floor when they left Temi Fagbenle unprotected in the expansion draft. Fagbenle was great for the Fever last season, and one of the most logical reasons for letting her walk out the door is that a new style and new players at her position would have made her a poor fit. A new, more creative style is coming to Indianapolis, and the team needs shooting, defense and versatility to make it hum.
New President of Basketball Operations Kelly Krauskopf is facing her first free agency in the current era of the WNBA. It’s time for her to build a roster around Caitlin Clark and with Stephanie White in mind, and it will be done under the changing terms of what her roster needs.
“Yes, we are,” Krauskopf said when asked if the Indiana Fever are in a position to add talent in free agency. “We’re definitely in a position. And I would think that if you are a smart basketball player, and you watch the way she plays, you would want to play with [Caitlin Clark]. Much like (Indiana Pacers guard) Tyrese Haliburton, she gets you the ball in places that you didn’t even know you were open. Because she passes to space. She finds openings and ways to free up other players.”
The fascinating part of the Fever’s offseason is that they are in a position to make changes on many scales. They have as many draft picks as roster spots, so the offseason could, in theory, be very straightforward: pick three players and prepare for training camp. But it won’t be that simple. It can’t be. Several Fever players have unprotected contracts or could be replaced. Movement is coming for Indiana.
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How many changes there are will be telling. Kelsey Mitchell and Erica Wheeler will see their contracts expire after being on protected, multi-year deals. Victaria Saxton, Grace Berger and Kristy Wallace all could reasonably be fighting for a spot on the team next year. The Indiana Fever have the spending power to keep some or all of those players, but the more they keep, the fewer external free agents they’ll be able to add. All three of Wallace, Berger, and Saxton were out of the rotation by the end of last season — they may not even fit into the bigger picture in the Circle City.
It all starts with a style, and Caitlin Clark sets that. Building around her and her strengths is a must. As White said, they’ll be a team with the freedom to make plays. A roster that doesn’t fit well in a particular style naturally won’t be able to use creative solutions on the court, so up-tempo defenders who can shoot (a rare, hard-to-acquire archetype) should be the priority for the Fever.
Retaining Mitchell should also be a priority for the franchise. The two-time All-Star thrives in faster settings and can shoot, which makes her an ideal backcourt piece. Zooming out, she’s also ridiculously talented and has spent her whole career with the Fever. Mitchell said she would look for her best option in free agency, and her family situation and basketball reality will matter as she makes a decision. Mitchell is a core-eligible free agent, and it makes sense for Indiana to core the top-10 MVP finisher last season, giving Indiana and Krauskopf exclusive negotiating rights with the veteran.
After that, things could go many ways with the rest of Indiana’s roster. Look for the team to add more experience, continuing a trend from last winter when the franchise added veterans Katie Lou Samuelson and Damiris Dantas.
“I spent a lot of years just trying to add experienced players around Tamika Catchings,” Krauskopf said. “Because veterans that have been in the foxhole and have been together, those are elements of success.”
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Positionally, the Fever could use more size, especially after losing Fagbenle. Questions around NaLyssa Smith‘s (fit) and Saxton’s (contract and playing time) futures make that need even more pressing. With Berger, Wallace, Wheeler and Mitchell all looming as free agents, Indiana should add a guard, too. The draft will be an option for all of this, but they need rotation pieces at these positions. That’s what free agency is for.
The Fever are light on the wing, too, but have enough to fill a team. At least, if they play like last season. Lexie Hull and Samuelson were enough, and Wallace was a noble wing defender. But if a style change requires the Fever to play smaller lineups, or if White looks at getting more wings on the floor to play a faster, more versatile style, then adding one or two is a must. That would be the strongest signal of a new focus on the hardwood for the Indiana Fever.
Altogether, it will be a busy winter for the Fever. Not only are they clearly ascending, but a new coach, consecutive Rookie Of The Year winners in Clark and Aliyah Boston, and a new President means a new direction is here. It’s time to win and enter a new era for Indiana — they still haven’t been over .500 since 2015.
Maybe all of that means chasing a star — Alyssa Thomas and Satou Sabally stand out as mega talents with question marks around their future team, beyond Mitchell. Perhaps the Fever’s new reality puts them in position to chase well-fitting parts in free agency and wait on the star(s) acquisition until the dust settles on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Largely running it back is possible, too, so a new leadership group can make better assessments of the roster — though that feels unlikely. There aren’t really any bad options for the Fever, but they need to add some talent.
“It’s clear that we have two foundational players, probably three. You get two Rookies of the Year in a row with a frontcourt player in Aliyah Boston, (a guard) Caitlin Clark. And then Kelsey Mitchell, the veteran leadership that Kelsey was able to provide, we need to help her. We need to add to that.”
The dynamics of free agency with a new CBA looming in the coming year or so will be fascinating. Players will be more interested in shorter contracts, making things more difficult for a team hoping to add long-term pieces like Indiana. Krauskopf has a ton of decisions to make as the Indiana Fever look to position themselves for a strong season, and then an even stronger future.
