Draftees Cox, Doyle crack final roster, Mavunga temporarily suspended
The Indiana Fever’s 2020 roster features nine returning players and three rookies as new head coach Marianne Stanley looks to guide the team to its first playoff appearance since 2016.
More from Indiana Fever
- 3 offseason cures for the Indiana Fever to rebound in 2023
- Your Day in Women’s Basketball, October 12: Sabrina Ionescu is ready to ball
- Your Day in Women’s Basketball, September 10: Dream are (mathematically) stayin’ alive
- Your Day in Women’s Basketball, September 3: Courtney Vandersloot, GOAT chaser?
- Your Day in Women’s Basketball, August 31: WNBA players return to the court, keep speaking out
Led by 14-year veteran Candice Dupree and 2019 All-Star MVP Erica Wheeler, the Fever’s 2020 roster includes returnees Natalie Achonwa, Kennedy Burke, Betnijah Laney, Teaira McCowan, Kelsey Mitchell and Tiffany Mitchell.
Victoria Vivians, who missed all of 2019 with an ACL injury after starting 26 of 34 games for Indiana her rookie season, is also back with the team.
Another fixture from last season’s roster, Stephanie Mavunga, will start the season suspended due to injury and is not among the final 12 players on the latest roster. Mavunga averaged 8.5 minutes per game in 2019.
Indiana adds three rookies to the squad this season. Among 2020 draftees, No. 3 overall pick Lauren Cox will bolster the Fever’s big frontcourt alongside McCowan, while No. 14 overall pick Kathleen Doyle could slide in as Wheeler’s backup at the point. Belgian guard Julie Allemand, who the Fever selected No. 33 overall in the 2016 draft, signed a multi-year deal with the team in March and looks to make her WNBA debut.
The Fever last week waived Kamiah Smalls, their 2020 third-round pick, and Jessica January, who signed a training camp contract in March, to bring the roster to 13 players. Mavunga’s suspension made it 12.
Despite the lack of a start date for the 2020 season, teams had to cut their rosters down to 12 players by Tuesday, just over a week after the season would have started, so players can start being paid on June 1.