The Indiana Fever are undoubtedly one of the winners of this offseason. They signed veterans DeWanna Bonner, Natasha Howard, Sydney Colson, and Breanna Turner. The Fever also essentially traded NaLyssa Smith, who was not an ideal fit with Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston, for 3-and-D veteran Sophie Cunningham.
On top of that, the Fever hired Stephanie White as their new head coach. White has plenty of postseason experience and led the best defensive team in the league last season. Those attributes make her a clear upgrade over Christie Sides.
So, after making all of those moves, the Fever are well set up to be one of the best offensive teams in the league and a legitimate contender. Even Sheryl Swoopes had to admit that this new-look Fever team looked strong.
Between Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston, Kelsey Mitchell, DeWanna Bonner, and Natasha Howard, the Fever will have plenty of scoring with some capable defenders sprinkled in. Nevertheless, the Fever will have to overcome a significant hurdle early in the season.
The Fever will have to build chemistry to start the season
While adding several veterans should make things easier for the Fever’s younger players, it will also lead to some complications. The Fever are only returning a handful of players from last season—Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell, Aliyah Boston, Lexie Hull, and Damiris Dantas.
That means that the new-look Fever will likely need some time to build chemistry, especially between the stars. So, the fit may not look as smooth as it should early in the season.
On top of the roster, the coaching staff also looks much different than it did last season, and the team will aim to implement a lot of new stuff under Stephanie White. Fans were already able to see Caitlin Clark working on her left hand as well as moving off the ball to get open for shots in workout videos the Fever posted. Especially the latter could change the way the Fever play, making the offense more dynamic.
It often takes patience and hard work to make a new roster click under a new coaching staff. However, if the Fever truly want to contend, they will have to figure out how to play well together quickly.
The other top contenders in the league should be the New York Liberty, even without Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, the Minnesota Lynx, and the Las Vegas Aces. The Lynx are returning pretty much the same roster that made the finals last year, the Liberty added Natasha Cloud but kept their core together, and even though the Aces swapped Kelsey Plum for Jewell Loyd, they still have plenty of players used to playing with each other at the highest level.
When it comes to familiarity and chemistry, those teams are a few steps ahead of the Fever, and Indiana will have to make up ground quickly.