Fansided

WNBA Season Preview 2019: Every team’s biggest question

By Miles Wray

LAS VEGAS, NV - MAY 19: Kayla McBride #21 of Las Vegas Aces handles the ball against the Minnesota Lynx on May 19, 2019 at the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Jeff Bottari/NBAE via Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - MAY 19: Kayla McBride #21 of Las Vegas Aces handles the ball against the Minnesota Lynx on May 19, 2019 at the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Jeff Bottari/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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INDIANAPOLIS, IN – MAY 16: Freddy Fever of the Indiana Fever waves the team flag prior to the game against the Chicago Sky on May 16, 2019 at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – MAY 16: Freddy Fever of the Indiana Fever waves the team flag prior to the game against the Chicago Sky on May 16, 2019 at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Indiana Fever: Is the team hurting itself in the long run by not fully committing to the rebuild?

When Pokey Chatman began her tenure in Indiana, her first major move didn’t indicate at all that the Fever would be spending the next two years immersed in the franchise’s first-ever rebuild: Chatman sent away the team’s first-round pick in the 2017 draft in exchange for then-32-year-old All-Star Candice Dupree. After the bottom fell out of the 2017 season, with the Fever going 9-25, Chatman was able to pick from slots No. 2 and No. 8 overall in the 2018 draft. But, for a rebuilding team, the Fever are awful short of young, impact talent: the previous regime had traded out of the 2015 first round prior to Chatman’s move out of the 2017 first round. While instigating a fire sale this July certainly won’t help the Fever’s record for the third year running, the Fever are unlikely to make the playoffs regardless, and it could really help the team’s long-term growth to finally enter a draft while truly loaded with picks.