In early June, the Indiana Fever brought in Aari McDonald on a hardship contract, due to injuries to Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham. She performed well under pressure and was re-signed after roster changes occurred. Now with Clark still out, they signed another player to a hardship contract.
Once again, it may pay off in the long run. Veteran forward, Chloe Bibby was signed to a seven-day contract on July 25. The Australian player spent the majority of her time in the league this season with the Golden State Valkyries.
She had averaged with 6.4 points and 2.8 for the Valkyries before being waived. Now she has been brought in by Fever head coach Stephanie White. She played her first game on Sunday and made an immediate impact for the Fever.
Chloe Bibby looks ready to help the Indiana Fever
Bibby scored eight points and added two rebounds and a block in the Fever over the hapless Chicago Sky. She provided a physical presence that may be missing from the Fever lineup. It is not that they have tough defensive players in Kelsey Mitchell, Sophie Cunningham and Lexie Hull. It is that they seemed undersized late in games against stronger teams.
They also have not had a deep bench, with both Hull and Cunningham alternating in the second-unit with McDonald occasionally playing minutes when Clark is back. However, they may want to look at bring Bibby on for longer than seven days if they want to add more depth and a big inside the paint as the season wears on.
If they can figure out a way to keep her around her a longer stretch, it may pay off as they continue to try and stay closer to the middle in the playoff standings.
Brianna Turner, Damiris Dantas and Makayla Thompson have not had many minutes and have made minimal impact on the court when they have played. All three could be on the chopping block if White would want to look at Bibby for more of a permanent role.
Bibby has averaged more minutes and rebounds during her time with Golden State and Indiana than all three, and may provide just enough of a spark off the bench that she would be an asset for the Fever.
"She did a really good job of understanding offense, understanding where she was going to get hers, and then staying shot-ready," White said to reporters after the game. "I like how she was defensively too; she didn't allow any easy entry passes."
The forward's first points came on a deep 3 toward the end of the first quarter. It showed White, Clark and the Fever what she can bring. She'll have a chance to show again what she can do as the Fever travel to play the Phoenix Mercury on Wednesday.