The Indiana Fever made huge moves to bolster their roster in the upcoming 2025 WNBA season. They have added free agent DeWanna Bonner from the Connecticut Sun, Sophia Cunningham from the Phoenix Mercury, and adding three-time WNBA champion Natasha Howard. The team also re-signed Kelsey Mitchell, one of its biggest stars from last season.
With their offseason moves, WNBA analyst Gary Striewski gave his take on the Fever’s recent offseason moves during Tuesday's episode of "The Elle Duncan Show" and how they impact their championship contention next season.
Striewski gave three reasons why the Fever are now title-favorites. First, the allure of playing with Caitlin Clark, which carried over to his second point attracting veteran free agents, addressing their inexperience. Lastly, he pointed out a familiar coaching system from new head coach Stephanie White, who coached the perennial contender Connecticut Sun in the past two years.
“Definitely you mentioned what they were missing, which was a lot of things, both tangible and intangible, size, depth and experience, they checked every single one of those boxes,” he said [5:30].
“I like everything about this. Now you have established veteran pieces that aren't just, you know, those bench coaches,” he added. “I’m thinking DeWanna Bonner chose Indiana just as much for the prospect and the allure of playing with Caitlin Clark right there, equivalent to that is playing with a coach in a system that she had success with in Connecticut, Steph White,” he added.
Bonner and other new players are expected to boost the Fever roster around Caitlin Clark, who steered the team to their first playoff appearance since 2016. The Fever finished the regular season with a 20-20 win-loss record.
Caitlin Clark clears the air on Fever’s offseason moves
Caitlin Clark has cleared the air on the Indiana Fever’s offseason additions. Taking in her jersey retirement in Iowa, Clark was left impressed by the Fever’s recent additions and expressed her excitement about what could be ahead for her and the team.
"I'm excited…Obviously, we made some great moves. I think Kelly and Amber and the whole Fever organization are helping us win now, and I think that's really important. I think they're putting really good pieces together that are going to complement each other really, really well," Clark said.
Clark also lauded the addition of Steph White as her new head coach. She hopes that she can quickly create a bond between them ahead of the 2025 WNBA season.
"Steph taking over as head coach for us, I think is going to be really great…A great basketball mind, somebody that actually called quite a few of my college games,” Clark said.
White replaced former head coach Christie Sides, who called the shots for the Fever in the last two seasons.