Kelsey Mitchell has spent her entire WNBA career with the Indiana Fever up to this point. This offseason, she will be an unrestricted free agent with plenty of choices for the first time.
Mitchell was very noncommittal in her exit interview after the Las Vegas Aces bounced the Fever from the playoffs for the second year in a row. That’s not unusual. Free agents rarely want to make big declarations about their future without even exploring their options.
Still, there is a sense that Mitchell could be on her way out. On one hand, she had a lot of nice stuff to say about the Fever organization. On the other hand, she also said she would have to “be selfish” and spoke about the difficulties of being a Fever player, clashing directly with GM Amber Cox’s note that claims about the toxicity of the Fever’s fanbase “have no basis in reality.” The two are obviously not on the same page, and that’s not a great starting point for contract negotiations with an MVP candidate who will have her pick of teams this offseason.
Those differences could mean absolutely nothing, and Mitchell may decide to re-sign with the Fever. Basketball-wise, it’s a great place to be for her. Still, no matter how confident the Fever are that they can re-sign Mitchell, they have to have a good backup plan in place. Losing Mitchell in free agency and not being able to replace her scoring next to Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston would be a disaster.
The Fever face a lot of pressure to build a championship contender
Building around young stars takes time, especially in an era that still firmly belongs to veteran stars. Either A’ja Wilson or Breanna Stewart was the best player on every championship team since 2020 except for the 2021 Chicago Sky, and they’re still two of the best players in the WNBA this year.
Still, back-to-back number-one picks, including a star like Clark, coming in create sky-high expectations. Every other team with back-to-back number-one picks had either made the finals or won a title by its third season with those two players. The Fever, meanwhile, were just eliminated in the first round.
Losing Mitchell would open up financial flexibility to build a better supporting cast around Clark and Boston, but it would also cost the Fever their best and most reliable scorer.
Star power matters in the WNBA. Just look at the four teams left in the championship race. The Aces have their big three of A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young, and Chelsea Gray, and the Liberty’s roster is built around Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones, and Sabrina Ionescu. The Dream have a younger big three with Allisha Gray, Rhyne Howard, and Angel Reese, but DeWanna Bonner and Jordin Canada can make up for any experience those three lack. The Valkyries are the only team left that’s built on overall depth and versatility around Gabby Williams instead of an All-Star big three.
Unless the Fever can suddenly replicate the Valkyries’ roster depth, everybody-eats offense, and stifling defense, they need to have a backup plan for a third star just in case Kelsey Mitchell leaves. They have to be prepared for the worst-case scenario. Being caught unprepared could leave them in an uncomfortable situation.
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