The Indiana Fever are going all in in 2025

The 2025 WNBA season is set to be one of the most interesting in league history because it's likely going to go down as one of the most anomalous seasons ever. That's because the WNBA Players Association opted out of the current CBA, which will now expire after this season, and almost every free agent this offseason is signing a one-year deal.

Next year's free agency could radically shift how the entire league looks, and this year's free agency could mean a large number of players have a one-year stop somewhere before signing long-term deals elsewhere in 2026.

For teams like the Indiana Fever who are done building via the draft, this whole thing puts them in an odd spot. You likely can't build a perennial contender this offseason, but you can do whatever it takes to maximize your one-year window, and that's what the Fever have done.

DeWanna Bonner gives Indiana another go-to scorer

Signing DeWanna Bonner gives Indiana something important that it didn't have last season, which is a wing who can create her own shot.

Last year, Indiana filled the hole at the three with a combination of Lexie Hull, Katie Lou Samuelson and Kristy Wallace. All three brought something useful to the floor, but Bonner is a different type of player. She's not necessarily someone who thrives as a spot-up player, but she's very good when shooting off screens.

Efficiency has sometimes been an issue for Bonner, who hasn't ranked in the top 50 in the league in field goal percentage since 2018, but sometimes you need a player who can get buckets when you need buckets. Bonner's presence will take pressure off of Caitlin Clark, and Clark's presence should lead to some of the more open looks Bonner has had in a while.

Bonner was really good in Connecticut over the past five seasons, but some of her best WNBA moments came earlier in her career in Phoenix, where she played with Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner. Playing with Clark and Aliyah Boston has a chance to unlock something big from the veteran scorer.

Natasha Howard beefs up the defense

The Fever were one of the league's best offensive teams in 2024, but the defense suffered, ranking 11th out of 12 teams in defensive rating.

That's been an issue long before Clark arrived in Indiana, but having her at point guard has increased the necessity of shoring up the defense around her. The team did that by signing Natasha Howard, the 2019 Defensive Player of the Year.

Howard replaces NaLyssa Smith at the four, who was traded to the Dallas Wings. Howard dealt with some injury concerns last year, but she still managed to average her usual 1.3 steals per game, the fourth year in a row she landed at that exact number. Howard's proven over her time in the WNBA that she's a versatile defender who can guard the paint and also go outside to contest shooters.

With that said, Howard's not a sure thing to fix the Fever defensive issues. The on/off splits haven't been great over the past few seasons — Dallas had a better defensive rating with Howard off the floor than with her on the floor in both of her seasons there.

Still, she's a rangy defender who can also knock down open looks offensively. She's much better suited for what this team wants to be than Smith was, so this move is a clear upgrade for Indiana.

Sophie Cunningham provides Phoenix with more shooting

The Fever starting lineup feels a little off in terms of spacing, but adding Sophie Cunningham to play heavy minutes off the bench gives the team flexibility. She can play the three or as a small ball four, stretching out the floor and opening up lanes for Clark and Kelsey Mitchell to do the things they do best.

Cunningham has shot 37.8 percent or better from three in three of the past four seasons. The only time she didn't in that span was in 2023, but that was largely because 2023 was the worst Mercury team ever by winning percentage. It's hard to be an efficient shooter on a bad team.

Last season, Cunningham ranked in the 88th percentile in points per possession on spot-up attempts per Synergy and the 91st percentile on all jump shots. She's going to thrive as a catch-and-shoot threat with Clark and Mitchell.

Okay, but are the Indiana Fever really contenders?

It's clear Indiana is heading into 2025 with the goal of winning as many games as possible. That's influenced by the current state of the league re: the CBA, but it's also because Clark and Boston are still on rookie deals. Indiana has 2025 and 2026 to take advantage of that before Boston is due for a major pay raise.

The problem for Indiana is that there's only so much they can do right now. This team has the potential to be a top-four team, but it's likely that it's No. 4 in that grouping, behind New York, Las Vegas and Minnesota.

New York is running back its championship-winning team minus Kayla Thornton and Courtney Vandersloot. Vegas lost Kelsey Plum but replaced her with Jewell Loyd. And the Lynx have one of the league's deepest rosters, led by an MVP candidate in Napheesa Collier.

Indiana has done more to improve than any of those teams, but getting over the hump and winning a title in a league where those three teams exist will be difficult.

But the entire landscape of the WNBA could look vastly different one year from now. Indiana has a chance to get its core two players some valuable experience ahead of an offseason where none of those three contenders have any of their top stars under contract. If Indiana can push to the semifinals this season, it sets the team up very well for 2026 free agency.

So while Indiana will very likely not lift the trophy at the end of the season, this offseason has gone about as well as possible. Maybe you could question if the team could have added another asset in the Smith trade aside from Cunningham, but overall this is a much-improved roster that is built to make a lot of noise. It's the best Fever team since the Tamika Catchings era.