The Indiana Fever may have one of the brightest futures in the entire WNBA. Landing two talents like Aliyah Boston and Caitlin Clark in the draft does that to a franchise. Boston and Clark won the last two WNBA Rookie of the Year awards and have already been All-Stars. Despite only playing two and one season respectively, the duo has already made an impression.
Especially Clark really shook up things for the WNBA. Not only did she bring a huge fan base with her from her college days, but she also backed up her stardom by breaking several records. She recorded the most points and assists by a rookie in league history, scored the most points by a point guard in a single season, was the first rookie to record more than one triple-double, and set the WNBA single-game record for assists when she dished out 19 assists against the Dallas Wings.
Clark truly is one of the best young guards in the league, and Boston is one of the best young bigs. Those two build the perfect foundation for a contender, and the Fever should waste no time to get the right players around them.
The Fever might not get a better chance to build around Clark and Boston
Young teams usually struggle to compete with the more veteran championship-level teams. That is why the Fever were swept in the playoffs by the Connecticut Sun, but Indiana’s time is approaching.
The organization already made some moves to improve the Fever’s playoff chances. Hiring Stephanie White to be the team’s new head coach puts someone in charge who has plenty of playoff experience and can hopefully improve the team’s defense. Now, the Fever just need the right players around Clark and Boston.
Kelsey Mitchell is one of them, so re-signing her should be the priority this offseason. Other than that, the Fever must use their chance to make a big move this offseason. Satou Sabally is one name that may be on the Fever’s wish list but she is not the only star they could pursue.
Clark and Boston are still on rookie-scale contracts, so the Fever should make a swing for another star before their two franchise players get too expensive. It is still early in Clark’s and Boston’s development, but this offseason is still the perfect time to make a splash on the trade or free agent market. Not only will there be several players eager to join Clark and Boston but it also works financially.
Having two stars on rookie contracts is a huge advantage for the Fever. We saw last season how the Seattle Storm struggled with depth and bench play. The Storm were built around an excellent big four but because of those four’s big contracts, the team did not get much production from anywhere else and it hurt them in the playoffs.
The Fever do not want to end up in the same predicament and the front office seems prepared to do whatever it takes to build around Clark and Boston.