5 Offseason Moves Indiana Fever Can Make to Help Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston

The Indiana Fever ended their eight-year playoff drought this season behind the incredible play of Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell (more on her shortly). By the end of the season, the Fever established themselves as a team that could compete with anyone on any given night behind their devastating offense—they were the league’s most prolific unit from June 3 onward.

Of course, the goal isn’t to be the proverbial Team Nobody Wants To Face; the Fever want to become real-deal contenders for years to come. Having a two-player core of Clark and Boston is an incredible place to start; because of their age, their internal improvement alone could push the Fever to another level.

A little outside help could accelerate things, though.

There’s real opportunity for the Fever to get busy this offseason. There are a lot of big names hitting the market, and the Fever could have over $650,000 in cap room available, according to the good folks at Her Hoops Stats.

Let’s take a look at some players and general moves the Fever should consider this offseason.

To borrow from The Williams Brothers, the Fever need to sweep around their own front door before looking elsewhere.

The absolute first order of business needs to be retaining Kelsey Mitchell, by pure negotiation or by using the core designation—the WNBA’s version of the franchise tag, for those who are new to the W space—to make sure she doesn’t go anywhere.

Mitchell is coming off her second straight All-Star season, posting career highs in points (19.2, eighth in the W) and efficiency (58.8 true shooting, 55.9 effective field-goal percentage). She also played incredibly well with the Clark-Boston duo.

Emptying a side for Mitchell and Boston to operate—Mitchell flying off pindowns, flowing into handoffs or running ball screens—remained a fruitful source of offense. Mitchell was a frequent (ghost) screener for Clark, often putting defenses in uncomfortable positions early in the clock.

Mitchell was a frequent target for Clark in transition; her cutting paired with Clark’s vision also led to plenty of fun hookups in the half-court. And in general, having Clark or Mitchell stashed on the weak side gave the Fever the ability to flow from side to side.

The Fever slightly won their non-garbage-time minutes (plus-five in 1,022 minutes) with all three on the floor, thanks to a high-flying offense (108.8 offensive rating, per PBP Stats) that performed nearly two points better than the New York Liberty’s top-ranked offense (107.0).

There’s no need to let that kind of firepower and synergy walk out of the door.

There’s a fun group of 4s that could hit the market, headlined by the quartet of Breanna Stewart, Alyssa Thomas, Nneka Ogwumike and Satou Sabally. Ultimately, I’d expect all four of them to flat-out re-sign with their current teams (Stewart, Thomas, Ogwumike), or get hit with the core designation (Sabally). If that changes for some reason, the Fever should absolutely go all-out for whichever one is available.

At the top of the next tier sits Natasha Howard, an accomplished veteran who made it known shortly after the regular season ended that she’d be moving on from the Dallas Wings.

A one-year deal feels appropriate for Howard. It would allow her to hit the market again as the (likely) new CBA kicks in ahead of the 2026 season. That would also add incentive for Howard to return to form, especially on the defensive end.

Frankly, there were too many instances of inconsistent effort from Howard on the Wings this year, who were mere tenths away from logging the worst defensive rating in WNBA history.

You could attribute some of that to a literal return to form; Howard suffered a foot injury during the Wings’ season opener and missed over a month of play. It’s understandable that it’d take some time to ramp back up. But some of the film from Howard, especially after the Wings were officially eliminated from postseason contention, was…unkind.

At her best, however, the 2019 Defensive Player of the Year is still a versatile defender who can execute multiple coverages and hold her own against both frontcourt spots—the kind of skill set the Fever could use. It’s still easy to envision Howard cleaning things up on the back side of actions, especially with how the Fever played Boston closer to the level of screens as the season went on.

On the other end, Howard remains a quality pick-and-roll partner—her screening really popped in the second half of the season—and reliable post-up threat. Even in a down year, she averaged 17.6 points per game.

Quietly, Howard also posted a career high in assists (2.9) and logged her first season racking up more assists than turnovers. What would she look like playing off Clark, the most blitzed player in the league this year? The Fever should work hard to find out.

If the Fever are able to land Howard, that could spell the end of NaLyssa Smith’s tenure in Indiana. Even if they aren’t, it may still be worth exploring what Smith’s market looks like.

To be abundantly clear: This is a matter of fit more than it is talent.

The 6’4″ Smith is a dynamic scorer inside the arc with the ability to step outside and hit triples when she’s feeling it. At her best, she’s a walking mismatch: too quick for players her size to deal with, but also too powerful for teams to feel comfortable switching smaller players on her.

There’s a pick-and-roll feel that I appreciate about Smith; as Clark and Boston struggled to find chemistry early in the season, Clark and Smith operated like they’d been playing together for years. Add in her rebounding ability, and you have a potential double-double machine on your hands.

On the flip side, Smith hasn’t proved to be a consistent—or willing—three-point threat, which occasionally led to some hitches in the half-court for the Fever. More pressing, she hasn’t made enough strides defensively to warrant consistent trust in big spots.

It was telling that the Fever often went elsewhere in closing time: a lot of Temi Fagbenle (a restricted free agent that the Fever should absolutely retain), some Damiris Dantas, some Samuelson earlier in the season.

Consider this data point: The Fever outscored opponents by 73 points with Clark, Mitchell, Boston and Lexie Hull on the floor together. The Fever won their minutes when Fagbenle (plus-40 in 97 minutes), Dantas (plus-26 in 51 minutes) or Samuelson (plus-17 in 43 minutes) was the fifth player in the lineup. That wasn’t the case with Smith—they were a minus-eight in 204 minutes.

Of course, eight points isn’t a wide margin in and of itself. And again, being a slight negative now doesn’t mean it will remain that way in the future. But if you’re working to accelerate the timeline of the Clark-Mitchell-Boston trio, making a decision on Smith could be a fruitful way to go about it.

You could go the prospect-for-prospect route to see if a new situation could make sense for both parties.

(I’m not sure how interested the Lynx would be, but I’d at least pick up the phone and ask about Diamond Miller, for example.)

Smith could also be an avenue to move up in the draft once the order is officially set, or add future pick equity to set up a move later. The latter would seem more likely considering who’s projected to be at the top of the class, but again, it’s worth picking up the phone and gauging interest.

An offseason in which the Fever keep Mitchell and bring in Howard would count as a success. From there, the team could really pick its spots and add on the margins. There isn’t a need to be super aggressive. There are already players on the roster, like Katie Lou Samuelson and Kristy Wallace, who could experience bounce-back seasons.

There are some really intriguing wings slated to be free agents, though it’s unclear how available they’ll actually be. The Connecticut Sun boast a pair of ballers—future Hall of Famer DeWanna Bonner (UFA) and this year’s Most Improved award winner DiJonai Carrington (RFA)—while Storm wing Gabby Williams should be a popular name…if she chooses to play in the W again next season.

If there’s an inkling of a breakdown in negotiations between those players and their teams, the Fever should throw that first paragraph out of the window and go for it. It is worth noting that Carrington, in addition to being a restricted free agent and not being able to move as freely to begin with, may understandably have reservations about signing with the Fever.

If not those three, there’s still value to be found on the market. Alysha Clark would be the dream: someone who could comfortably defend 3s and 4s, knock down triples (career 38.3 percent on threes), and get busy against smaller players with deep seals. Considering her success with, and palpable love of, the Las Vegas Aces, it’s difficult to imagine her leaving unless the Fever open the checkbook.

Michaela Onyenwere would be my top, somewhat realistic restricted free-agent option. She’s showcased the ability to defend multiple positions, continues to grow as a three-point shooter (career-best 36.8 percent overall, 39.4 percent from the corners), and has flashed some interesting mid-range shot creation to boot.

Kennedy Burke has flashed some intriguing two-way ability for the league-best Liberty this season and shouldn’t break the bank to bring into the building.

Again, the Fever don’t need to be super aggressive here. They could bring back veteran Erica Wheeler and/or turn back to Grace Berger for rotation minutes next season.

If they do look for outside help, there are some interesting options available. Sami Whitcomb is a quality veteran who could slot in nicely as a secondary ball-handler and spacer (career 36.1 percent from three). Adding another movement shooter to the rotation could help the Fever maintain some scheme consistency when Clark or Mitchell goes to the bench.

Kia Nurse (roughly 35 percent from three over last three seasons) would also fit that mold, while providing a little more size than Whitcomb. The Fever could toy with some three-guard lineups in that case and really spread defenses thin.

If Wheeler isn’t retained and the Fever prioritize rim pressure from their guards, they could turn back to a familiar face in Destanni Henderson. Crystal Dangerfield would also be a fun option as someone who could get downhill, sprinkle in mid-range jumpers, and pester folks at the point of attack on the other end.