The Indiana Fever ended the 2026 season surrounded by a lot of questions. Some of those have been answered, but others have only just been raised — and there's no possibility for clarity coming anytime soon. Kelsey Mitchell raised plenty of eyebrows when she seemed to suggest she's dealt with a lot of hostility from people who claim to be fans of the team, and her comments also contradicted those made by GM Amber Cox.
Some fans have begun to speculate about what moves the team could make if Mitchell ends up playing somewhere else next season. That's a reality that's a little difficult to mention, as Mitchell has been a stalwart member of the team for years, but sometimes change is necessary. Should she depart, the team will need an experienced player who can immediately step in, or they'll need to enter into what could be several more seasons of rebuilding.
Coming up with a list of experienced WNBA players who could immediately fill in that gap isn't easy. Some fans have speculated that Kelsey Plum or Napheesa Collier could join the team — and though those are certainly attractive suggestions, the truth is the math just isn't there. Even if Mitchell leaves the Fever, the team won't have the cap space to take on a player like Plum or Collier, because they'd simply be too expensive.
Of course, that perspective is based on an established fact and an assumption. The fact is that the Fever is committed to Aliyah Boston's mega $6.3 million contract; the assumption is that the team will offer Caitlin Clark a max contract extension. If both prove true, the team's cap space will be extremely tight.
But: Clark has the ability to do something plenty of players before her have done, but without having to deal with the toll of the financial hit. She could opt to take less money so that another player could receive more. Diana Taurasi and Breanna Stewart have famously done this at different points in their careers, and Clark certainly isn't completely dependent on her WNBA salary to exist.
Plenty could change between now and when free agency begins ahead of the 2027 season, and Mitchell may very well end up staying put in Indiana and running it back with the team one more time. That decision could rest on what offseason moves the Fever's front office makes, or it could rest on something else.
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