u/UncomfyAndShy

I keep seeing people act like if Kelsey Mitchell leaves, the Fever are suddenly screwed. I really don’t see it that way.

Obviously, losing Kelsey would be a huge loss. You’re not replacing 24+ PPG, elite shooting and her chemistry with Caitlin Clark with one player. But Indiana doesn’t need to replace Kelsey directly. They need to replace what she provides across the roster.

The biggest mistake would be finding another high-volume scoring guard and calling it a day. This roster needs to become more balanced.

1. Get a starting-caliber SG who can defend and give you 10–15 PPG.

The Fever need someone who can hit open threes, attack closeouts, defend opposing guards and play off CC.

Caitlin will have the ball more, and if she takes another step offensively, some of Kelsey’s scoring can be absorbed through increased production from her.

2. Add a legitimate two-way wing.

Indiana needs an athletic wing who can defend multiple positions, run the floor, hit open threes and make life easier for CC and AB.

Defense has to be a priority. A great offense doesn’t matter if you can’t get stops when games slow down.

3. Find AB some real frontcourt help.

Indiana needs a 4 who can rebound, defend and provide 10–16 points while taking some of the physical burden off Aliyah Boston.

AB shouldn’t have to be the primary interior scorer, rebounder and defensive anchor every night. A reliable frontcourt partner would also give her more freedom offensively.

4. Keep building around CC and AB.

If Kelsey leaves, CC becomes even more clearly the offensive engine. Give her shooters, athletic wings who can cut and run, a big who can finish and rebound, and defenders who can take tough perimeter assignments.

AB also needs to be part of the offensive evolution. If she takes another step, some of Kelsey’s scoring can be redistributed between CC and AB instead of placed on one replacement player.

5. Prioritize depth over one star replacement.

If KM leaves, I’d rather see Indiana add a 10–15 PPG guard, a legitimate two-way wing and a starting-caliber 4/5 than spend everything on one player who scores 20+.

You replace Kelsey’s production by committee:
CC and AB taking another step
10–15 PPG from the new SG
10–16 PPG from the new 4
improved wing production
better defensive personnel

That could get the Fever surprisingly close to replacing Kelsey’s overall value while making the roster deeper and more balanced.

That’s why I’m not in the “Kelsey leaves, we’re cooked” camp.

It would hurt, but the Fever have two franchise-level building blocks in CC and AB. The goal should be to build a team that’s less dependent on three players having great games every night.

Different roster doesn’t automatically mean worse roster. It could actually mean a more complete one.

I haven’t liked a lot of adjustments made by Steph White this season but she really cooked with this one! Starting KK with AB is exactly the defensive/offensive adjustment we needed!

With KK in the paint, AB can stretch the floor without worrying about the rebounding and on the defensive end, they can stop the opposing team from scoring by packing the paint with AB and KK. This move frees up AB from getting into foul trouble, and since KK is so athletic/lengthy, the other team has to make adjustments to their shots around the rim.

This also helps us finally get a good back up center/forward. Mo is perfect for that role, since she will be playing against the other team’s back up and that gives her an edge.

KK is still raw offensively but she’s growing so quickly, her development through the rest of the season is going to be massive for us.

We need to talk about who we can realistically get before the trade deadline. I think we know by now which players are working for us and which ones aren’t.

We need to find a backup center and try to get off Lexie hull if possible because she’s straight up just doing cardio at this point, she isn’t even playing good defense for us which is literally the only thing we need from her sometimes.

I think the Fever needs to go after Rae Burell, her in this fever offense would be insane. I think Sparks are going to shop her since it doesn’t look like the team is headed anywhere at this point and she’s going to be free agent soon so they might as well get something for her.

We need a good defensive center, if PHX is open to trading Natasha Mack or if Sun is willing to trade ONO, they have to try and get them. They would be perfect for Fever.

Any thoughts on which players Fever should target for a trade?

I’m thinking of traveling to Indy for a Fever game in August, I would really appreciate some advice/suggestions on what to expect, where to stay, etc.

I had trouble understanding what our offense and defense were going to look like with this roster through the start of the season but I am finally seeing the vision here. Last night’s game was what Fever basketball can look like, we just needed to know our strategy/playstyle with all of our different lineups and rotations.

The insane part is that we still haven’t all clicked together fully but we are already the best offense in the league!!!

I know the outside noise and the haters are always pitting the Big 3 against each other but they are just jealous that we have 3 players that can literally carry the team on any given night! They can only wish they had that on their team, its pretty obvious that’s why they want to create problems between them.

Here’s my breakdown on the players and their roles on this team,

KM, AB & CC: Any combination of these 3 is lethal, they can all go off individually and carry the team but if they are all going off in a single game, good luck to the team playing them because that’s a freight train coming at you, there is no stopping them at that point.

Mo & Lexie : Can give you solid minutes, great role players, should be used as cutters in the starting line up. Will give you rebounds and good defensive effort, they need to be more consistent and aggressive in finding their shots.

MHA & Ty & Soph: Spark plugs! 🔥🔥 Ty is the PG2 and Soph is the best 6th women in the league, both of them have a critical role in making sure the game doesn’t slip away in certain lineups. MHA is solid defensively and is the backup hub when AB is on the bench.

Timpson & Raven: Need to be the defensive menaces, the offense will come but they have to show up consistently on the defense and give solid minutes from the bench.

GVS & DD: They can provide length but offensively lacking in production. They are deep bench pieces, if we keep blowing out teams, we can hopefully develop them with more minutes.

I would love to hear your thoughts on what the team can improve on and the things they are doing well.

PS: Let’s keep this about basketball, no narratives or assumptions on players would be appreciated.

(Cross posting on this sub to get more thoughts on this)

I had trouble understanding what our offense and defense were going to look like with this roster through the start of the season but I am finally seeing the vision here. Last night’s game was what Fever basketball can look like, we just needed to know our strategy/playstyle with all of our different lineups and rotations.

The insane part is that we still haven’t all clicked together fully but we are already the best offense in the league!!!

I know the outside noise and the haters are always pitting the Big 3 against each other but they are just jealous that we have 3 players that can literally carry the team on any given night! They can only wish they had that on their team, its pretty obvious that’s why they want to create problems between them.

Here’s my breakdown on the players and their roles on this team,

KM, AB & CC: Any combination of these 3 is lethal, they can all go off individually and carry the team but if they are all going off in a single game, good luck to the team playing them because that’s a freight train coming at you, there is no stopping them at that point.

Mo & Lexie : Can give you solid minutes, great role players, should be used as cutters in the starting line up. Will give you rebounds and good defensive effort, they need to be more consistent and aggressive in finding their shots.

MHA & Ty & Soph: Spark plugs! 🔥🔥 Ty is the PG2 and Soph is the best 6th women in the league, both of them have a critical role in making sure the game doesn’t slip away in certain lineups. MHA is solid defensively and is the backup hub when AB is on the bench.

Timpson & Raven: Need to be the defensive menaces, the offense will come but they have to show up consistently on the defense and give solid minutes from the bench.

GVS & DD: They can provide length but offensively lacking in production. They are deep bench pieces, if we keep blowing out teams, we can hopefully develop them with more minutes.

I would love to hear your thoughts on what the team can improve on and the things they are doing well.

PS: Let’s keep this about basketball, no narratives or assumptions on players would be appreciated.

So July 2nd is the date where all the unprotected contracts become protected, do you think the FO is going to make any moves before then? If so, what do you guys expect them to be and what are the potential pieces that could make this roster more complete?

Personally, I don’t know what DD and Grace Vanslooten’s role on the team is, I would like to see if we can upgrade the bench to get some depth for our front court but I don’t know who would be an improvement for that role.

Any thoughts?

I have never seen a basketball foul being bought up on NBC news and PBS news until today but I guess every new day gives you a new experience..

The discourse all day has been getting crazier and crazier, every one in the world seems to have an opinion on a basketball foul that probably would have been a footnote in a game report if the refs had done their job yesterday.

I never thought I would see actual politicians talking about this but I guess I was wrong, has this ever happened in NBA or any other sports?

I don’t even like AT but the talk online is reaching levels that make me feel bad for her. Dont get me wrong, I am not justifying what she did or saying she didn’t deserve the suspension she got but over the last few hours, it feel like this situation has reached new levels of online toxicity that might rival the Angel Reese situation.

What the hell is going here and how did it get this bad?

Edit: I just want to state again that I dislike AT and I completely agree with her suspension and she should have been punished for this behavior a long time ago, I just want the focus of the discourse to be the bad officiating.

Can someone explain this to me like I am a five year old,
I looked this up and it completely contradicts what I have seen on the floor in regards to officiating against the Fever.

“A Flagrant 2 foul in the WNBA is defined as unnecessary and excessive contact committed by a player against an opponent. It is a severe penalty that results in the immediate ejection of the offending player from the game.”

Clear examples of Flagrant 2 fouls on Caitlin that weren’t called include,

1. ⁠Chennedy Carter shoving her from the back before the ball was inbounded- Referees called it “Away from the ball/Common Foul”
2. ⁠Marina Mabrey shoving Caitlin- Technical foul
3. Diamon Deshields running into/shoving Caitin- Flagrant 1
4. ⁠Alyssa Thomas using Caitlin’s throat to brace herself- No foul

I am probably missing a few more things that didn’t get called or were called technical/common fouls and I am not even mentioning all the Landing space calls that should have been Flagrant 1s but never get upgraded.

Can someone tell me what meets the actual criteria for a Flagrant 2 against CC?

I honestly feel like I am going crazy with all the discourse about last night when this has been happening for years now and there has been no change to how she is officiated.

I have been a fever fan for a few years now and usually by this point in the season I can see a little bit of their identity and what they can do when they are running on all cylinders but this season its been blink and you miss it glimpse of what this team can do.

I don’t think even the players know their roles clearly and I can clearly see that on the floor when they play, they start doing too much instead of doing the things that play into their role on the team.

I would really like to know what everyone else thinks?

What are the biggest strengths and weaknesses of this team are currently.

Do you think this is fixable or are we punting this season?

I only want to have a constructive discussion, so please keep it cute.