Indiana Fever have three cuts to make throughout training camp. Who will make the roster?
INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indiana Fever are heading into training camp with 15 players, and they'll have just over two weeks and two preseason games to cut three.
Training camp starts Sunday, and the Fever will head to Texas for a preseason game against the Dallas Wings on May 3. The second preseason game is against the Atlanta Dream at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on May 10, and 12-player rosters need to be finalized by May 13.
There will be a lot of cuts coming around the league, especially in the 2024 draft class. In 2023, only 15 draftees made opening-day WNBA rosters. The top seven on the Fever's roster are essentially decided, with a couple more nearly a lock for the lower rotation; spots 10-12 will be the most difficult decisions for head coach Christie Sides and GM Lin Dunn.
"You can never underestimate the value of 10, 11, and 12," Dunn said on draft night. "Great teams, successful teams, consistently successful teams have 10, 11, and 12 that know their role, accept their role, work hard, make everybody better. They're cheerleaders, they stay in shape, they're ready if somebody gets hurt, they're ready if somebody gets in foul trouble, so all the great teams I've seen -- we won a championship in 2012 because the end of the bench was so positive and so hardworking. That's one of the things we'll do in training camp, we'll figure out who is 10, 11, and 12, because they will make a difference in how far you go."
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Here's a look at the Fever's roster and where players could stand as they head into training camp.
Protected Indiana Fever players
These players are under protected contracts, which means the Fever will have to pay their salaries even if they’re cut for injuries or “lack of skill.” This doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t be cut — Victoria Vivians was on a protected contract and was waived last month — but this close to the season, it’s unlikely.
Kelsey Mitchell
The 2018 No. 2 pick has been the glue of this Fever team since she stepped on the court. With Vivians (also a 2018 draft pick) now gone, she is the team's longest-tenured player and has been a mainstay in the starting lineup. She is the Fever’s second-leading career scorer and has averaged 16.2 points per game over six years. She’s coming into training camp with a left ankle injury, but that won’t affect her status.
Erica Wheeler
Wheeler is in the final year of a two-year, $404,000 contract with the Fever, and is in her second stint with Indiana. She was Indiana’s starting point guard last year, averaging 9.9 points and five assists per game. While Wheeler may lose the starting spot to 2024 No. 1 pick Caitlin Clark, she will be the Iowa star’s biggest competition in training camp. Whether she’s in the starting lineup or backing Clark up, she will be a serviceable guard.
Katie Lou Samuelson
The 2019 draft pick out of UConn signed a two-year, protected contract with the Fever this offseason, and the Fever brass expect her to fit perfectly into the 3-spot in the starting lineup. She missed the 2023 season as she had a baby in August, but she averaged 29 minutes per game with the Los Angeles Sparks in 2022, with 9.7 points and three rebounds.
Damiris Dantas
The 31-year-old forward also signed a two-year, protected contract with the Fever this offseason. She did not play the 2023 season but has ample WNBA experience, spending six years with Minnesota and three with Atlanta. She averaged 9.7 points per game in Turkey this season, and will be a great depth piece behind frontcourt starters Aliyah Boston and NaLyssa Smith.
Indiana Fever blue chip players
These players are on their rookie contracts, which are technically unprotected. Still, these three are all but sure bets to make the roster.
Aliyah Boston
The 2023 No. 1 pick started the rise that the Fever are currently on. Coming out of South Carolina as a national player of the year and NCAA champion, she was an All-Star starter and the unanimous pick for Rookie of the Year, averaging 14.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in 2023. She and Clark will become one of the league's powerful duos.
NaLyssa Smith
The Fever picked up Smith’s fourth-year option this week, putting her under contract through the 2025 season. She has been a Fever starter since they picked her at No. 2 in 2022. She missed eight games with a foot injury last season, but still averaged 15.5 points and 9.2 rebounds.
More: Fever exercise team option on NaLyssa Smith's contract, keeping her in Indiana through 2025
Caitlin Clark
The 2024 No. 1 pick is probably the Fever's — and maybe the WNBA's — most hyped player ever. She is a two-time National Player of the Year, NCAA career scoring leader, and the missing piece that the Fever need. She will likely slot into the starting lineup as the point guard, as Indiana desperately needs to step up its assist game. The Fever averaged just 18 assists per game in 2023 (11th in the league), while Clark averaged 8.9 in her senior year at Iowa.
More: Meet the artist who made a portrait of Caitlin Clark with a basketball as her paintbrush
Indiana Fever players with an edge
These players are also still on their rookie contracts, but they’re not necessarily a lock to make the roster. All were on the roster last year and played significant minutes at times, giving them an edge.
Lexie Hull
The Fever have not yet picked up Hull’s fourth-year option, despite doing so for Smith earlier this week. Still, Hull was an on-and-off starter for the Fever last season she suffered a shoulder injury, averaging 20.6 minutes and 4.6 points per game. With that starting experience, she will likely stick as a backup small forward behind Samuelson.
Kristy Wallace
The guard out of Australia has a lot of experience working with Sides, playing for her in Atlanta and Indiana. She started nine games for the Fever last season because of injuries to others, averaging 6.6 points and 2.2 rebounds. She also has starting experience from 2022 with the Dream.
Grace Berger
The 2023 No. 7 pick out of Indiana got little playing time early last season, but with injuries to others throughout the season, she proved herself to be a solid role player. The point guard ended averaged 14.7 minutes and 4.2 points per game. With Clark coming in, she will likely be pushed to third-team point guard. Still, she can play point and off the ball, making her a versatile piece.
More: Q&A: Fever guard and IU alum Grace Berger on thumb injury, first WNBA season
Borderline Indiana Fever players
These five players could be the ones fighting for the final two spots.
Victaria Saxton
The South Carolina forward stuck on the roster last season, but she played in just 15 of the Fever’s 40 games with an average of 3.6 minutes per game. Sticking on the 2024 roster may come down to how many forwards the Fever want to carry, but she brings size at 6-2 and already knows the ins and outs of the Fever’s culture — something that is very important to Sides.
Temi Fagbenle
On a training camp contract, Fagbenle hasn’t been on a WNBA roster since 2019, but she has ample experience in her native Great Britain. She is a WNBA champion with the Minnesota Lynx and just won the EuroCup championship with the London Lions, averaging 12.7 points per game on a staggering 72% from the field. Standing at 6-4, she could be a solid piece behind the starting frontcourt.
Maya Caldwell
Despite playing 30 games for the Fever last season, Caldwell is a training camp invitee. Caldwell started one game and averaged 10.1 minutes and 1.9 points per game. She has a good sense of Sides’ game and culture, though, as she played for Atlanta in 2022.
Celeste Taylor
A second-round pick out of Ohio State, Taylor’s best asset is her defense — she was the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year on a Buckeyes team that prioritized defense, using a full-court press to muddle opposing teams. Averaging 2.5 steals per game, Taylor was also a finalist for Naismith Defensive Player of the Year. Indiana struggled defensively last season, ranking 10th in general defense.
Leilani Correa
The 2024 SEC Sixth Woman of the Year out of Florida was the Fever’s third-round pick; Correa will have an uphill climb to make the roster of a basically already-established starting lineup and supporting rotation. She averaged 29.2 minutes mostly off the bench for the Gators in her final season, averaging 16.9 points and 2.5 steals per game.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Fever have three cuts to make; who will stick on the roster?
