The first domino has fallen in WNBA free agency.
Kelsey Plum is packing her bags and heading to Los Angeles to join Cameron Brink and Rickea Jackson with the Sparks. The three-team blockbuster trade also sends Seattle's Jewell Loyd to the Las Vegas Aces.
Rumors regarding the trade surfaced on Saturday, forcing the rest of the league to await the outcome. Plum was high on many teams' target list, including the Indiana Fever's. Indiana needed a wing, and what seemed like the best fit in Plum is now off the table.
How do the Fever pivot?
There are still some great names out there. Wings forward Satou Sabally announced she had played her final game in Dallas, and she was already a rumored name on Indiana's target list. Dallas has cored Sabally, meaning the Fever would need to work out a trade.
Myisha Hines-Allen, who was traded to the Lynx last season, also fits the bill as a capable shooter on the wing.
But there is one other name that the Fever need to focus on first, one that Indiana fans are very familiar with. This player should be Indiana's top priority moving forward, especially after the Plum trade.
Re-sign Kelsey Mitchell
No need to search for the offseason splash-- the Fever have theirs close to home.
Mitchell was assigned a core designation and extended a qualifying offer, meaning that she will make the supermax salary in 2025. The fact that Mitchell has not re-signed is concerning-- she cannot get any more than the maximum, implying that she is hearing out teams for other reasons. Either the Fever will sign her or trade her, and being that Plum is now off to Los Angeles there are few wings that make sense.
Aside from the trade option, Mitchell and Caitlin Clark made up one of the best backcourt duos in the league last season. Both finished in the Top 10 in scoring leaguewide and played well off of one another. It would be in the Fever's best interest to retain Mitchell.
The Fever have about four months to make a deal happen.