The Indiana Fever watched one of their big offseason decisions implode on Wednesday after the team waived veteran forward DeWanna Bonner just 14 games into the 2025 season.
Bonner hadn’t been with Indiana since June 10 after reportedly being unsettled in her fit with the Fever, even reportedly contemplating retirement at one point in the process.
The Fever couldn’t find a trade partner and waived her outright after her multi-week absence, re-signing guard Aari McDonald, who flashed real potential coming off the bench on a hardship exemption deal, with the freed-up cap space. Both moves illustrate the paths Indiana can take to maximize the Caitlin Clark rookie window.
The first path, the one where you push all the chips in on win-now moves and contend for a title as fast as possible, simply hasn’t worked out for the Fever so far. Hiring coach Stephanie White away from the Connecticut Sun may well prove to be a brilliant move, but it’s always too early to judge what a coach does in just 12 games (White has missed two this season for personal matters). White can hypothetically guide this team to a title, even if one doesn’t happen right away.
However, the team’s free agency, centered on adding veterans with championship experience, hasn’t panned out as hoped. Bonner’s brief stint in Indianapolis will be remembered for her exit rather than her on-court contributions. Her not finding a role with the team that suited her is rotten luck for all involved, but Indiana put itself in a tough spot when it signed the 37-year-old veteran only to bench her after a couple of games for guard Lexie Hull. Hull has been major bright spot this season for Indiana, and from a basketball sense, she was an upgrade for what Bonner gave the team in starting minutes. However, you don’t bench a future Hall of Fame like Bonner and expect her to be thrilled about it. It’s definitely understandable why Bonner wanted out.
Forward Natasha Howard has flashed at times and helped get wins, but she’s also taken a step back in scoring production and minutes played so far this season (10.8 ppg, 23.1 mpg) compared to her 2024 campaign with the Dallas Wings (17.6 ppg and 30.6 mpg in 27 games played).
Free agent guard Sydney Colson filled in admirably to run point during Clark’s five-game injury, but she understandably has her limitations at this point in her career. McDonald will likely take a good chunk of her minutes in her Fever return as Clark’s primary backup at point guard. Guard Sophie Cunningham, acquired in trade, has struggled with an ankle injury this season and is still finding her rhythm in the rotation, and free agent forward Brianna Turner, a solid defender, is averaging about four minutes a game this season.
Howard has easily been the best free agent on the court, but she will be 34 in September and is entering the back nine of her career. Most all of Fever’s most impactful players were added before 2025 started.
The Fever have yet to live up the sky-high expectations the franchise set for itself with such an aggressive offseason, which could mean Indiana put the cart before the horse a bit on its contention timeline. No, there isn’t much Indiana could do to predict losing its best player in Clark for five games and watching her go through uncharacteristic scoring droughts from beyond the arc this season. Nor can you always foresee how free agent signings will ultimately work out. However, the strategy looks flawed in this 14-game sample size.
Clark’s outrageous performance against the New York Liberty on June 14 after returning from said injury justifies all the hype in her generational abilities, but 2025 has proved she’s as human as any superstar in basketball history. The Fever can topple the Liberty at their best, yes, but they can also lose to the lowly Sun at their worst (when Clark is out). Indiana is a talented, imperfect team in transition with a new coach and new pieces trying to fit together, and building consistent chemistry has been a struggle with the injuries, White’s absences and Bonner’s abrupt exit. However, the team’s soaring confidence in how fast it could meaningfully compete for a title looks to be a bit premature, at least right now.
You look to the team’s young stars for your hope this Fever team can put banners in Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Clark, though ineffective in scoring these past few games, will eventually snap out of her funk and go back to scoring 3-pointers in bunches and proving why she’s one of the best to ever play the game. Forward Aliyah Boston has taken a massive leap forward this season into one of the league’s best post players. Guard Kelsey Mitchell is starting to regain her elite 2024 form, and Hull is playing some of the best basketball of her career.
McDonald’s unexpected spark off the bench brought her back to the Fever after Bonner’s departure, and she could play her way into a long-term role with Indiana as Clark’s primary backup at point guard. She is exactly the type of addition a young, promising team like the Fever needs, someone who can grow with this core as a reserve. Rookie forward Makayla Timpson fits the bill, too, a possible 2025 WNBA Draft steal who might eventually take Howard’s spot in the starting lineup if all goes according to plan with her development.
At 7-7, Indiana should still be a real playoff threat as time goes on. The league can’t expect Clark to miss this many 3-pointers much longer at minimum, and White’s system should run more smoothly the longer everyone on the roster is healthy and available to build chemistry with each other. This team needs consistency to build momentum, and it has a twelfth roster spot and the cap space to add another rotational big to the roster.
As easy as it is to see the best version of this Fever team make it as far as the semifinals, it’s not as easy after 14 games to see this Fever team, even at its peak, to push a fully healthy Minnesota Lynx or New York Liberty in a multi-game series. The team’s contention window opens each and every game this roster can get comfortable with its new coach and each other, but it wasn’t as wide-open off the jump as some hoped.
Perhaps this is a great lesson for the Fever as it tries to navigate a groundswell of expectations with Clark’s arrival. Yes, the Fever absolutely can win titles with Clark leading the way. No, that was not going to happen overnight, and the team was never going to be able to fully jump the line with a successfully aggressive free agency, much less an unsuccessfully aggressive one. At least at this point in the season, Indiana hasn’t quite gotten on the court what it needs out of its new players. It’s partly why the team sits at .500 right now.
The Bonner fiasco is what it is. It didn’t work out, it stinks for all involved and the Fever can only wish her well and adapt to life without her. What the Fever brought to Indiana in terms of locker room mentorship and veteran guidance for a young core can’t be measured, and we’re sure that’s where this free agency plan is finding its most success. On the court, however, the returns are a bit of a disappointment so far.
However, finding a gem like McDonald when the team’s back was against the wall provides a blueprint forward. Again, this team needs to find players who can grow with its superstars. Having a seasoned veteran or two around can help, but you can’t rest on them alone. The Fever have had to learn the hard way that acceleration to a title doesn’t mean you reach optimum speed, but time is on this team’s side in terms of what’s on the horizon. The fact that the Fever haven’t cratered after so much adversity is in and of itself a huge win and a validation in the decision-makers involved.
Once Clark gets going again and this team fully settles into its new system, we’ll know what this 2025 Fever team is fully capable of; we’ve a long way to go to September, after all. Tuesday’s impressive 94-86 road win over the Seattle Storm came on one of Clark’s off nights, and it proved Indiana can win even when Clark isn’t playing her best. That’s a huge boost for this team’s immediate future as it’s constructed. Don’t count them out in the slightest, especially once Clark is back to her old self.
However, in the future, you just have to hope the Fever’s free agency strategy is more methodical and more focused on bringing in more players like McDonald, ones who can help you now and later. Both timeframes will be important for Indiana, but later will most likely bring the best results.
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