When you draft talents like Aliyah Boston and Caitlin Clark with back-to-back number-one picks, you have a limited time frame before they both become very expensive—an even smaller window now with the possibility of EPIC extensions. The easiest time to build contenders around young stars like Boston and Clark is while they are still on their rookie contracts, meaning you get superstar-level production for cheap and have plenty of cap space to sign the right supporting players.
The Fever failed to do that. Clark’s injury in the 2025 season was out of their control, but they also didn’t build a good enough roster for this season. Boston is already on a new million-dollar contract. Clark is also eligible for an EPIC extension. Even if she is willing to make contract sacrifices to give the Fever more financial flexibility, building out the roster with the right role players won’t be easy—especially considering how much it would cost to re-sign Kelsey Mitchell and that most top free agents would likely only think of coming to Indiana and enduring the struggles that come with playing for the franchise for a big paycheck no one else is offering them.
With new leadership coming in, the Fever have a chance to turn things around, but they already wasted the cheapest years of their young star duo.
The pressure on the Fever is now higher than ever
This was supposed to be the Fever’s season. They were one of the championship favorites coming out of free agency.
They delivered in some areas. Kelsey Mitchell put together the most impressive scoring season we have ever seen from a guard. Moreover, she and Clark led the WNBA’s best offense. At the same time, however, Boston was not herself. She played the season with an injured meniscus. On top of that, Lexie Hull, Monique Billings, and Sophie Cunningham all had underwhelming seasons. They were not the impactful role players they were projected to be, and the Fever’s defense was middling at best.
The Fever still have little playoff success to show after landing back-to-back number-one picks and are at risk of losing Mitchell in free agency. She might want to look for a team where she wouldn’t have to deal with so much outside noise and harassment.
The pressure on the Fever is higher than ever. After all, if they can’t build a legitimate contender around Clark soon, one has to wonder if they ever will.
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