The Indiana Fever’s unfinished practice facility was humming with the sounds of an active construction site and buzz of potential as former team president Kelly Kraustopf led a group of reporters in town to cover WNBA playoffs through its progress.
Dodging dust and an occasional errant nail during the tour of the three-story, 108,000 square-foot building, it wasn’t hard to envision how the facility — which will feature individual player studios, a content creation space, nail salon and golf simulator — could draw in free agents.
“I don't see another building like this. So I think it sets us apart based on what we are offering to these players. There’s a lifestyle,” Kraustopf said as she stood in a shared dining space.
“We hope that they’ll be together
and enjoy it. It’s their home. I think it’s definitely going to be a separator.”
But Kraustopf won’t be with the team to see how having the WNBA’s largest training center will distinguish the Fever in free agency. Kraustopf stepped down and general manager Amber Cox was ousted just weeks after that tour.
The Fever will instead head into free agency with a new team president and GM and very little money to spend. Indiana has a salary cap of less than $8 million, and some difficult decisions to make surrounding their Big 3 of Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston.
Here’s a look at the biggest financial storylines to watch entering the Fever’s free agency:
Will Kelsey Mitchell, Caitlin Clark take team friendly deals?
Simply put, the salary cap isn’t big enough for Clark and Mitchell to be on max contracts with the Fever.
That said, given their performances this season, they both deserve them. They were both top-five vote getters for the league MVP and both were named first-team All-WNBA.
Mitchell averaged 24.7 points per game, her career-best ever. Clark averaged of 22.3 points and 8.3 assists per game.
While Mitchell enters this offseason as a top free agent available, Clark is eligible for a big raise to her rookie salary.
As reported by Chloe Peterson of USATODAY Co’s IndyStar, the Fever want to sign Clark to an EPIC extension — a provision under the new CBA that would raise her salary. Players on rookie contracts are allowed to renegotiate their fourth-year salary up to the standard max if they make an All-WNBA team. Clark was named first-team All-WNBA in 2024 and 2026.
Although Indiana is the only team that can offer Mitchell a supermax in 2027, under the CBA only a player's current or previous team can offer a supermax contract, it's unclear if the team could afford it with Boston on a supermax through 2029 and Clark in line for a raise.
The salary cap could rise as much as 13% to $7.91 million per the collective bargaining agreement but it will still be tight for the Fever.
In 2027, Boston is slated to make $1.582 million, Clark (if nothing changes) $596,597, Lexie Hull $803,250, Monique Billings $800,000, Makayla Timpson $305,250, Raven Johnson $300,698, and Damiris Dantas $288,600. All those salaries account for $4.676 million of cap space, with projected $3.234 million left for five players and Clark’s EPIC raise in 2027.
In her exit interview with reporters, Clark acknowledged “sometimes you have to make sacrifices” for a championship-caliber roster.
On the other hand, Mitchell said during her exit interview that she needed to be “selfish” — an understandable approach for a 30-year-old who has spent her entire career with the Fever and just finished one of the best seasons by a guard in WNBA history.
There’s precedent for WNBA superstars taking team-friendly deals. Five-time MVP A’ja Wilson took nothing but pay cuts as Las Vegas won three championships in four years. Wilson wasn’t even among the league’s top-25 highest-paid players in 2025.
Clark could take that route. Say she takes $800,000 and Mitchell stays on the max, the Fever would have an extra $250,000 of cap space left for a total of $1.667 million to spread between four more players — likely two mid-tier players and two reserve options.
An even more team-friendly option would be for Clark not to sign the EPIC provision at all. Her fourth-year rookie contract salary of $587,596 would allow Mitchell to take the supermax. That would leave the Fever with $1.638 million to divvy between four additions.
Mitchell could also take the max, leaving the Fever with $1.8 million for those players.
Then, there’s the reality Mitchell could choose to leave in free agency — which could leave the Fever to offer the max to another free agent in a market that’s headlined by Jackie Young, Kelsey Plum and Napheesa Collier.
Would Lexie Hull or Monique Billings leave?
When the Fever signed veteran forward Monique Billings ahead of the 2026 season, it was reported her two-year, $1.6 million contract with the Fever was fully protected.
The IX Sports recently reported Billings’ deal for 2027 is only protected if she isn’t waived or signed to a new contract by Feb. 1, 2027.
Having made stops with the Golden State Valkyries, Atlanta Dream, Dallas Wings and Phoenix Mercury across her career, Billings would be a solid trade option. She was close to her career averages with 6.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game with the Fever this year.
As Makayla Timpson took Billings’ spot in the starting rotation, she was efficient with a career-high 51.6% field goal percentage while embracing off-ball duties. Her playing time dropped further in the postseason, as Billings averaged 9.7 minutes per game across the Fever's first-round exit against the Las Vegas Aces.
Although it seems Fever could clear or decrease her cap hit without making a trade, they also have options with Lexie Hull.
The two-year, fully guaranteed contract worth $1,568,250 (an average annual salary of $784,125) that Hull signed in April, 2026 is arguably steep based on her 2026 campaign. She averaged 5.2 points, 3.0 rebounds, 0.7 assists, and 0.6 steals per game in the regular season, shooting around 34% from the 3-point line (down from 36.7% in 2025).
She was less effective in the playoffs, where teammates Sophie Cunningham and Raven Johnson saw more minutes.
Trading Hull or parting ways with Billings would leave the Fever with $2.6 million left in cap space. That makes room for a million-dollar free agent or a few players to fill out the roster.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Caitlin Clark is due a raise. Kelsey Mitchell is a free agent. Fever face a numbers problem
