In some ways, when a team is looking for a path to winning in the playoffs, the draft is all about finding the top talent, regardless of position. “You think about best available [player]” Fever GM Amber Cox said leading up to the draft. Indiana is focused on having a competitive training camp and hoped to find pieces that could battle and enhance the roster in that setting.
“You’ve got to be prepared for anything,” Cox said. “Just looking for people who can come in here and compete.”
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While best available is a sound draft strategy, Indiana had its specific skill focuses. The Fever have a new coaching staff and front office, so a new play style is coming. Between the team’s actions and words, it’s becoming clear: They want to play fast and spread the floor. Many teams want to do those things — in tandem, they make scoring easy. But it’s not a simple play style without the right personnel.
The Indiana Fever think they have it. With Caitlin Clark running the show and more shooters, defenders and heady defenders up-and-down the roster, the team is ready to run — literally. On draft night, they had to keep those skills in mind. Any prospect better suited to playing slow or requiring the ball often to succeed wouldn’t be a good fit.
On top of that, the Fever had a roster, cap and future to balance. Ten players — Clark, Kelsey Mitchell, DeWanna Bonner, Natasha Howard, Aliyah Boston, Sydney Colson, Lexie Hull, Sophie Cunningham, Damiris Dantas and Brianna Turner — are either locks or near-locks to be on the opening night roster. But Indiana can only afford to keep one more player on the roster come opening night. Jaelyn Brown could be in the mix for that spot, but as Cox mentioned, the team wants a competitive training camp. With no clear positional needs, as many as nine free agents coming next offseason and little financial flexibility, the Fever had much to consider with their three 2025 draft selections.
Cox and the rest of the draft team didn’t kick off their night until pick 19 — a second-round selection originally owned by the Phoenix Mercury. They had two picks in a row at the time, so it was a chance for the team to make their mark.
With the first of the two selections, Indiana took Makayla Timpson, a forward out of Florida State with gaudy college stats. She averaged 17.5 points and 10.6 rebounds per game in her fourth collegiate season and added 3.1 blocks per contest. Timpson contributed on both ends.
She was the only collegiate player to average a double-double with three-plus blocks per game last season. “A defensive powerhouse. Had an incredible year at Florida State,” Cox said. Fittingly, Timpson can get stops and run the floor. That makes her a strong on-floor fit for Indiana.
The Georgia native is a program builder, which should make her a personality fit with the Fever. “We put our program back where [it] needed to be,” Timpson said after her Seminoles lost in the NCAA Tournament this season. “We had a … better season than last year. And that’s the goal for every team, to have a better season than you did the year before.”
Indiana was prepared for multiple draft-night scenarios, and after picking Timpson they were on the clock again. This time, the team aimed for a guard and grabbed Bree Hall from South Carolina.
Hall, a two-time NCAA Champion, spent four years with the Gamecocks. Two of them came with Boston, a Fever star, including the 2021-22 title season. Indiana now will have rostered four players from that team — Hall, Boston, Destanni Henderson and Victaria Saxton — at some point.
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The Ohio native is known for — you guessed it — her shooting and defense at the guard spot. Hall shot better than 38% from long range in each of her last two NCAA seasons and defends with a contagious snarl. In many ways she plays like Hull does for the Fever, just at a guard spot.
“An elite defender. Does a lot of things really, really well,” Cox said of Hall. The general manager pointed to efficiency and a diverse skill set as important qualities.
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Hall developed tremendously at South Carolina, and that program has created several excellent pros in recent seasons. Dawn Staley‘s leadership and coaching has built a terrific program. “They’re winners, number one,” Staley said of her senior class this season, which included Hall. “Two, they’ve been coached up. So any situation they’ll be able to handle, any role they’ll be able to handle. … They defend. They’ll have a really good understanding of how to defend. And they are young people that are good people, good to be around, can handle any role and will be an asset to any franchise.”
With one selection remaining — the 33rd pick, which came in the third round — Indiana snagged up forward Yvonne Ejim out of Gonzaga. The Canadian spent five years with the Bulldogs before reaching the WNBA.
Ejim shot over 60% from the floor during her fourth NCAA season. Her fifth year featured 20.7 points and 9.3 rebounds per game averages, excellent numbers. She can score efficiently and is mobile for her position. Her inside-the-arc game is better than her shooting.
“Really versatile post player. Great post-up game,” Cox said of Ejim. She then went on to praise the 23-year-old’s motor and defense, two things that will make her a great fit with the Fever.
She developed into one of the nation’s best post scorers during her time with the Bulldogs, and her role grew every year at the collegiate level. “Her number one strength is her willingness to learn and her commitment to development,” Gonzaga assistant coach Craig Fortier told The Next of Ejim in 2023.
Altogether, the Indiana Fever walked away from the draft with three players who can either shoot, defender, operate in the open floor or have some combination of each skill. That makes them all terrific fits in the Fever’s developing play style, and thus makes them good talent bets during a competitive training camp.
“The most important thing for us is defensive versatility,” head coach Stephanie White said of the draft. She believes the Fever need to get better on that end.
“Name of the game here tonight is continue to shore up our defense, continue to bring in more versatility, and add more weapons,” Cox shared, largely agreeing. “When you look at the up-tempo style we want to play, these are players that can get out and run on the break with us. Defensively, they can really get up and guard.”
The Indiana Fever had a winter defined by change. Yet on a draft night that was no longer the biggest moment of the offseason for the franchise, they didn’t look to change anything up at all. They continued to chase culture and style fits, and it will pay off if that method of play leads to wins this season.
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