The Indiana Fever's 2024 season will certainly be one for the franchise's record books. From the record-breaking attendance to the records broken by rookie sensation Caitlin Clark, this season's yearbook will surely be one all Fever fans will want a copy of. Yet, all the success the Fever team achieved on and off the court wasn't enough to advance them past the first round of the playoffs. It wasn't even enough to earn them their first playoff win since the 2015 Finals as the Connecticut Sun completed the round one sweep of Indiana in Uncasville last night 87-81.
The Sun will move on to the semifinals where they'll face the two-seeded Minnesota Lynx who rode Napheesa Collier's 42 points in their sweep of the Phoenix Mercury. As the Sun continue on in pursuit of the franchise's first title, Indiana will begin the process of how to keep the positive momentum of 2024 going into 2025 and not become a one-hit wonder of the league.
The good news for the Fever is that overall, they're a young team and for the most part under contract for 2025. Obviously, Caitlin Clark will be back and by the time the 2025 season starts she'll be the freshest she's been since first semester of 2023 at Iowa. Other key components of the Fever like Aliyah Boston, NaLyssa Smith and Lexie Hull should all be back (barring a trade). All four of these players are under twenty-five years old and proved to be solid contributors throughout the course of the season so there's a solid core to continue to build around.
Fever must re-sign Kelsey Mitchell
The top in-house task for Fever General Manager Lin Dunn is re-signing guard Kelsey Mitchell. Drafted by Indiana in 2018 and with the team ever since, Mitchell has just completed the best scoring season of her seven-year career. The 2024 season saw the feisty Fever guard reach career highs in points scored (767), points per game (19.2), field goals made (282), field goal percentage (46.8) and three-pointers made (109).
In a season where everything was supposed to be about Clark, Mitchell was able to take on a new role in the offense and raised her game in doing so. Mitchell's play provided Indiana with a legitimate 1-2 punch in the backcourt all season which opened up the court on offense for players like Boston and Hull.
It's likely Mitchell will be a hot commodity in free agency so locking her up to ride with Clark in the backcourt over the next few seasons is key in Indianapolis. After retaining Mitchell, the Fever must prioritize more offense. Hull and Smith are nice pieces but if Indiana wants to be an actual contender and not just the team Caitlin Clark is on, they'll have to seek out more fire-power. A few names that fit that bill while also providing size are Brionna Jones, Satou Sabally and Gabby Williams.
Will Christie Sides return in 2025?
The final piece to the 2025 Fever puzzle could be who will be the coach. Christie Sides, who was hired as the Fever coach after the close of the 2022 season, had a very up and down season. After a dismal start to the season fans were calling for her firing just ten games into the campaign. Sure, the Fever had a relatively successful season, but that still only resulted in seven more wins than in 2023 and Sides came under constant criticism in her handling of Caitlin Clark, the signing of Erica Wheeler and how she juggled the lineup and rotation all season long.
One would think Sides will still be roaming the Fever sidelines in 2025, but the length of her current contract is a bit of a mystery so you could file her status going forward as "unclear" with a lean towards likely to return.