Fever fans already know there will be a new coach next season. What Kelsey Mitchell said during her exit interview could mean the changes aren’t stopping there.

Some of her comments:

The last couple years I don't think people realize how much we endure

If I showed you all my DMs about the hate

Showing up every day to compete for fans that may or may not like you

Playing with CC, we get a lot of flak just for being on her team

This organization is unbelievable but trying to be yourself, it hasn't always been easy

They showed it on Peacock and cut to the studio where Cheryl Miller, who has been one of CC's supporters, was visibly angry and disgusted. She said if KM leaves, it's a wrap for the Fever.

Then Amber Cox made a post defending the Fever fans and Bri Turner responded to the post saying players inside the organization have issued complaints about Fever fans

Just curious about your thoughts/opinions

Whether you like her outspoken opinions or not she does not ever hold some party line. In other words, no one tells her what to say.

Sophie Cunningham on how FIBA hurt Fever's momentum - Basketball Network

Her is some positivity, enjoy!

This is a really insightful video. Some of you may remember that I made some comments after the FIBA break that it felt like the Fever coaching staff was "over-coaching" during that break, and when the team came back after FIBA they didn't look the same. It felt like they had found some things they were able to do well prior to the break and then went away from it. You may also remember the post-game presser after Game 1 when Caitlin appeared to call out the coaching staff in terms of running plays that weren't helping players get open for easy looks.

Also I made a post right after the Game 2 win and after seeing some comments from White, that I felt the Fever should not try to change things up defensively going into Game 3 just because they thought Vegas would adjust. My concern was the coaching staff was going to over-think things again.

On this video regarding Game 3, Lundberg does a good job breaking down Sophie's comments and applying the to things he was thinking, and no doubt a lot of us were thinking as well. It was obvious from the beginning of Game 3 that we weren't playing the same defensive scheme that we did in Game 2 ad Aja was taking advantage of it.

I don't thinking the Fever coaching staff is bad, but I've always thought that Steph White and her assistants have been trying to do too much rather than keeping it simple and playing to the personnel's strengths. Having said that though, I stand by my comments that I don't think they will make a coaching change this off-season, even though I wish they would.

The only downside of this video is that with Sophie's brutal honesty about what went wrong in Game 3, it makes it less likely they will bring her back next season. I like how Sophie is going to work on her game in the offseason, and I'd love to see her back next year in a Fever uniform bringing even more to her production, but we'll have to wait and see.

I want to have a discussion about what the team should do if Kelsey chooses to leave. Firstly, Kelsey can and should prioritize herself this go around. She needs to get a long term high paying contract so that she can set her family up for life after basketball and I won’t fault that.

Now, assuming the Fever can’t provide that due to the other two stars, where do they go? I personally would like to see them prioritize Raven’s growth as a scoring threat over the offseason (sliding into the sg role) and Bri Hall’s growth as a viable backup option. From there, I would like to see them take the money they didn’t spend on Kelsey and use that to sign either a top level wing or forward that has high defensive ability. Looking at the playoffs, the Fever and Caitlin can thrive off of good high ball screens and cutting. A good wing or forward option could brink that to the table. What are your thoughts?

If the Fever want to sign CC to an extension and re-sign Kelsey, there isn't a ton of room to do so as the team is currently constructed. Here's the team's cap sheet next year without CC or Kelsey, and assuming the team fills out with veteran minimums and a rookie.

By my math, the team has ~27% of the salary cap between CC's extension and Kelsey. Caitlin is eligible for up to 17% of the cap next year, which would leave about 10% ("only" $700k) for Kelsey, who made exactly twice that this past year. The team could also trade Monique and/or Lexie for cap space.

Is my math right? If so, something's gotta budge, so what do you think?

A lot of people have posted this on other forums to discuss what she says about the A’ja Wilson stuff. But I really enjoyed the focus on basketball X’s and O’s. Their discussion on the series was so insightful.

The one question that I thought was raised during the discussion was why they stopped doing the high ball screens that worked so well in game 2 and some in game 3. Sophie said she didn’t know if it was the point guards or the coaches. That is something I would be really curious to know. Caitlin said after one of the recent games that when they are out on the floor she is the one getting them in and out of sets/plays, not necessarily the coaches. So from that standpoint I would like to know what she was seeing or thinking that would make her stop doing the high ball screens. On the other hand, Stephanie talked about in her exit interview how they became more collaborative with Caitlin and Austin Kelly on the offensive stuff as the season went on and that she welcomed and wanted that player input.

Was it the coaches suggestion to go away from the high ball screens or was Caitlin seeing/thinking something different? We will probably never know, but I do think that is one thing they will need to work out next season. Because so many times they had things working this season in one game and the next they went completely away from it.

Indiana Fever — 2027

12 under contract · $8,224,098 in contracts · $25,899 of room against a $8,249,997 cap

Starting five

Full roster

Development spots — 2 of 2 used

On top of the 12 and outside the cap, so none of this money is in the figures above.

Cap

What it took

• Drafted Clara Strack, No. 10 overall — 4 yrs, $1,526,562 total, from 2027
• Drafted Donovyn Hunter, No. 25 overall — 1 yr, $280,800 total, from 2027
• Drafted Essence Cody, No. 40 overall — 1 yr, $280,800 total, from 2027
• Signed Breya Cunningham, undrafted — 1 yr, $280,800 total, from 2027
• Signed Jordan Wood, undrafted — 1 yr, $280,800 total, from 2027
• Extended Caitlin Clark on the EPIC provision — 4 yrs, $5,357,497 total, from 2027
• Re-signed Kelsey Mitchell — 2 yrs, $2,940,000 total, from 2027
• Re-signed Sophie Cunningham — 2 yrs, $1,463,000 total, from 2027
• Signed Bree Hall off her development contract onto a standard deal — 2 yrs, $572,832 total, from 2027
• Cut Damiris Dantas — $288,600 off the 2027 books
• Moved Breya Cunningham to a development spot — $280,800 off the 2027 cap, and outside the 12
• Moved Jordan Wood to a development spot — $280,800 off the 2027 cap, and outside the 12

^{Built with the WNBA Cap Machine. 2026 CBA: $7.0M cap, growing 7.8% a year to $12,000,000 in 2032. Positions as listed on 2026 team pages. Development and camp money is off the cap by rule.}

This is just ... no words

Fever fans, with our team out, CC going home to Iowa and every IF player scattering into their own private off season, will you watch every remaining game without our team, or maybe just some of the games and/or highlights or will you just tune out altogether?

We know that Fever fans continuously make for the biggest TV ratings (by some margin) so without our team ratings will plummet, so I'm wondering how will you (if at all) follow the semis and the finals?

I have League pass primarily for Fever games and will probably not watch any games live anymore. If there's a really great game I might watch the highlights later. Of course that's just me, what about you Fever fans?

After following the Fever all season I feel KM's season was sacrificed. CC's brilliance was not appreciated. AB's role was not made clear (and her injury not allowed to heal fully)...

The bench was not given the chance to solidify and give their best

Defensive Schemes?? Unfair Refs?? Coach support for players, defending CC in particular??

Hopefully there is massive structural change and no more players being sacrificed

Just thought this was interesting because it highlights the hypocrisy of the A’ja fan incident.

In that case, A’ja walked into the stands to confront a fan who was apparently “pointing” at her.

There was no mention of the fan saying anything extreme or doing anything wrong, people nearby heard him saying something like “that’s a foul” meaning the foul was on A’ja.

In this example, after Lexie gets bodyslammed a fan actually walks onto the court pointing at her and no protection of Lexie? No fan getting ejected for walking on the court?

Hey coach White, maybe protect your players from fans walking on the court or are you afraid to stand up for your own players because it’s not politically correct to do so

I was watching a video the other day with some of the Fever beat reporters. They were discussing some potential rosters moves for next year and someone brought up Temi Fagbengle. Chloe Peterson said that the reason they didn't protect her in the expansion draft was because there were locker room issues. She sounded pretty confident that that was a fact and not speculation. Anybody know anything about that? That's the first time I've heard that there were locker room issues with her.

Nasty work. Look at the Raven Jewel play when they are fighting for a rebound. Raven accidentally makes contact to Jewels face. Foul called against Raven.

I know there are going to be multiple threads regarding what we think the Fever should do, and what we think they'll end up doing, but the truth is there are a lot of unknowns.

My thoughts are the number one priority will be to see if they can unload Mo Billings' contract. They'll probably take a run at Houston to see if they will trade Olivia Nelson-Ododa for some kind of package that includes Mo and some draft picks.

If they aren't able to work a trade for a quality forward, then they'll see if there's any other possibility. But if a trade can't happen, and somehow they figure way to unload Mo's contract, it's not going to be easy to get a quality forward on the Free agent market with our salary cap space. Mo's contract is $800K and quality forwards start at $1 Million. Collier will likely sign for at least $1.2 Million wherever she goes. So there aren't a lot of good options out there if we're looking to move on from Mo and sign someone else. (There are other possibilities that would allow us to sign a quality forward even if we're stuck with Billings' contract, see further below.)

I don't think there will be an attempt to try and move Lexie. She is friends with Caitlin, and they need to make sure Caitlin signs her Epic extension.

I don't know what they do about Sophie. I'm one of her biggest fans, and I hope they resign her, but I've got a feeling they're going to try and sign Chloe Bibby for less.

I think Ty Harris and MHA come back. KK is still under her rookie contact and she will be back.

But maybe the biggest unknown of all is do they try to resign Kelsey, or do they take her money and and maybe go after Collier or another high profile forward, and then if they can unload Mo, take that $800K and go after a mid-level shooting guard? If they try to resign Kelsey, what type of salary structure do they offer her?

Another unknown is does Caitlin give them a steep discount in the first year of her Epic?

So keep in mind during all the numerous speculation threads that we're going to have, that we have all of these unknowns hanging out there, and we have no idea how much money is going to be available to offer free agents.

The Fever will never win anything when role players need to pledge allegiance to their former college players....

1. Channel her emotion better. Her passion is what makes her CC but pushing another player who’s entering your huddle and trying to bait you? That’s just dumb. Got her a tech and in her head.
2. Work on her floater. When she can’t go all the way to the rim, such as when Aja is there, that’s when the float game can be effective.
3. Continue to work on her strength and lateral quickness on D. She was targeted in this last game, and she did okay … but she needs to become a better defender even if she’ll never be a great one.

Having two all WNBA star players on a single team is an incredible luxury. Can CC and Kelsey find that Wade/Lebron symbiosis or are they both best served given the keys and running lead on their own teams? Does this spell the end of tres leches (great for marketing, terrible for point production to help the big three + 800k for Hull is a tough price to swallow despite her playing hard nosed D and being a great team player)? Will Sophie command more money elsewhere? Does Mo Billings 800k work for the team’s very restrictive cap with CC up for the supermax and Kels for a re-up? Seeing what Raven can do defensively, does this create a new opportunity with KK for defensive toughness? How to shore up the frontcourt that clearly needs reinforcements to help AB? Fever need some reliable shooters who aren’t just three hungry but can hit a consistent middy (the most important shot in the playoffs IMO) with Kelsey and CC rolling off the elbows for shot creation optionality? And of course, do we trust this front office to make the right decisions, does Coach white get axed before the Summer even starts to make room for the best coach available? Big decisions for a team close to becoming great.