3 moves the Indiana Fever need to make this offseason to finally take the leap

The Indiana Fever's 2026 season is over, and now the team turns toward a critical offseason that will decide what this team becomes over the next few seasons. That's not hyperbole. Kelsey Mitchell hits free agency and the decision to bring her back -- assuming she wants to be brought back -- will shape everything about how this team operates.

In a perfect offseason, where things go exactly as the Fever want things to go, these moves would put the team in the best position to contend in 2027.

Re-sign Kelsey Mitchell

Say what you want about the Fever defense being terrible (it is) and how the fact that the team has a pair of offense-first (and sometimes offense-only) guards in Mitchell and Caitlin Clark is a big part of that, but the Fever also have an advantage that no other team has, which is having the league's two highest-scoring guards on the same roster. Yes, that comes with issues, but it also means that in theory, the team can use both forward spots on good defenders. Easier said than done, but I'd say that ultimately, the advantages of a Clark-Mitchell backcourt outweigh the negatives.

The larger question here is if Mitchell will want to return to Indiana. Some of her comments during exit interviews are concerning if you're a Fever fan, especially because she made those comments because of Fever fans.

The problem for Indiana is that Mitchell leaving basically means you have to go back to the drawing board. You'd need to find a viable No. 2 scorer, though in this case, you'd trade off some points for someone who is a good defender. Unless you're getting Napheesa Collier (and I strongly believe that if she leaves Minnesota, it's to go to the Valkyries), the options in free agency for a secondary scoring threat beside Clark are Kelsey Plum (who'd basically be a worse version of Mitchell, which doesn't seem like the right move), Jackie Young (whose best option is easily to just stay in Vegas) and, umm...Kayla Thornton? The market dries up in a hurry.

Re-sign Sophie Cunningham

Hey, I get it: Sophie Cunningham is a flawed player whose problematic off-court statements have no place in this league. But putting personal feelings aside here, the Fever need someone who can hit shots off the bench, and Cunningham has largely been that player. As long as her presence doesn't actively run away potential free agents, it makes sense to keep her around.

Because for all of her flaws, Cunningham shot 41.9 percent from 3-point range this season, and she's been over 40 percent from deep in both seasons with Indiana. She also brings some toughness to the floor. Not necessarily in an "is a plus defender" way, but she's not afraid to muck things up and get aggressive, for better or worse.

That's not to say that the Fever just need to sign Cunningham and call it a day at forward. She should be coming off the bench as a three and a small-ball four. The team definitely does need to make an upgrade at one of the forward spots, but Cunningham still has a place on this roster.

Sign one or both of Kayla Thornton and Kennedy Burke

The Fever really need help at the four, but there's not a lot of true power forwards out there on the market. That's where Kayla Thornton would be useful. Assuming Collier goes to Golden State, the Valkyries might need to let Thornton walk to make everything work financially. She's not a true four, but she has the toughness to play there if that's what the Fever need, and she'd give them a really good catch-and-shoot option.

Kennedy Burke is also out there in free agency. Her 2026 season was largely a disappointment, but Burke's always been a player who has done well on good teams and struggled on bad teams, and she was saddled with playing for the Connecticut Sun in 2026. But in 2025, when Burke was on a very good New York Liberty team,  she shot 41.4 percent from deep. In a lower usage role on a contending team, Burke would be a lot of fun.

Could the Fever swing both? Maybe. That might require trading Monique Billings to clear cap space, but if you can do that, you get an interesting situation. Makayla Timpson could start at the four with Thornton at the three, or you can go small with a Thornton/Burke frontcourt, which allows you to use Lexie Hull in a bench role. The roster would still have issues with its lack of size, but is that the end of the world? Indiana has Aliyah Boston at the five and would be able to space the floor really well for her. If the team wants to improve without fundamentally changing how it approaches basketball, these moves make a ton of sense.

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