What does it mean to be "in the MVP conversation" in a year where one player has kind of clearly separated herself from the rest of the pack? Well, to me, it means that while A'ja Wilson is pulling away from the field as she looks to win a record fifth WNBA MVP award — a record she already owns with four of them — there is an intense battle to finish second in the voting between a handful of players.
Olivia Miles and Caitlin Clark have headlined that battle. Paige Bueckers was in it for a while, but has slipped out of contention. One name that isn't getting enough attention, though, is Clark's Indiana Fever teammate Kelsey Mitchell.
Why Kelsey Mitchell belongs in the MVP conversation
Again, I'm not saying Mitchell should win the award over Wilson. What I do think is that the 2026 season has given Mitchell the best chance she might ever have to finish as high as second in the voting.
Last season with Caitlin Clark out for much of the year, Mitchell had to take on a larger role, something more akin to what she had to do pre-Clark, but with the added bonus that her time playing beside Clark in 2024 had helped her level up her game. She crossed the 20-point-per-game plateau for the first time in 2025, and she's just grown from there in 2026.
Mitchell is averaging 24.6 points per contest, easily the best mark of her career and a number that ranks second in the WNBA to only Wilson. Her efficiency has also risen dramatically, as she's shooting 50.7 percent from the field. If she maintains that for the rest of the season, it will be Mitchell's first season making over half of her shots. In fact, if not for a few free-throw misses, we might be talking about Mitchell as part of the 50/40/90 club, but her free-throw percentage is just a tad off at 86.2 percent.
Mitchell has also done a great job cutting down on her turnovers, as she has the ninth-lowest turnover rate in the league. She's the league leader in offensive win shares, though he only ranks 77th in defensive win shares.
Do her other numbers stand out as much as the scoring numbers? Not really, and that's a big part of why she hasn't necessarily been discussed as an MVP candidate as much as some other players, but her scoring impact is a big part of Indiana's success this season. Sure, Wilson has the defensive edge and Clark is the better playmaker, but Mitchell's performance this season deserves credit.
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