Indiana Fever 2024 Season Preview
Aliyah Boston won 2023 WNBA Rookie Of The Year. Now she takes Caitlin Clark under her wing in year two.
Lisa Donovan Posted on 5/8/2024.
The Indiana Fever went 13-27 in 2023, but should on that in 2024. The Indiana Fever have their brand new number one pick Caitlin Clark at point guard, Kelsey Mitchell their second overall pick in the 2018 WNBA Draft at shooting guard, NaLyssa Smith their second overall pick in the 2022 WNBA Draft transitioning from shooting guard to small forward, and Aliyah Boston at power forward even though Boston is versatile enough to play the 5 at center. Indiana also has Erica Wheeler who averaged 9.9 points per game as a starting point guard next to Kelsey Mitchell. With Kelsey Mitchell injured right now, Erica Wheeler will take over at shooting guard for now until Mitchell is cleared to return. Indiana used three guards, one forward, and one big at power forward or center last season and looking at this roster that seems like it will remain the case.
Caitlin Clark took Womens Basketball by storm the last two years at Iowa and led the Fever with 21 points in a 79-76 loss to the Dallas Wings who on paper are a better team than the Indiana Fever. Erica Wheeler had 16 points at shooting guard in the preseason after only posting 9.9 points per game last year, but she's a nice fill in at shooting guard until Kelsey Mitchell returns as Kelsey Mitchell led the Indiana Fever with 18.2 points per game last year. NaLyssa Smith had 20 points playing the wing at small forward. Aliyah Boston only had 8 points and 8 rebounds in the preseason after averaging 14.5 points per game, 8.4 rebounds per game, and 2.2 assists per game during her rookie season.
Indiana needs another big next to Aliyah Boston unless they want to start three guards with Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell, and Erica Wheeler with NaLyssa Smith at forward and Aliya Boston as your big at power forward/center. Lexie Hull the third starting guard next to Caitlin Clark and Erica Wheeler in the preseason only averaged 4.6 points per game in year two and only averaged 2 points in the preseason after the Fever took Hull sixth overall in the 2022 WNBA Draft. Lexie Hull will be a bench player behind Clark, Mitchell, and Wheeler once Mitchell is cleared to return from her injury. If the Indiana Fever cannot win enough games to make the 2024 WNBA Playoffs, they can draft a power forward such as USC power forward Kiki Iriafen who played both small forward and power forward at Stanford complimenting Cameron Brink last season. I doubt the Indiana Fever do poorly enough to finish in the bottom four missing the playoffs for a third year in a row unless Kelsey Mitchell misses the entire WNBA Season.
The Chicago Sky may be in a rebuild this year even if Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese become household names two years from now as only one scorer on the Sky last year averaged 10 points per game and Chicago will not do enough to exit a rebuild unless Cardoso and Reese step up and take pressure off of Marina Mabrey who is the one returning player from the Chicago Sky's 2023 team to average over 10 points per game. Elena Delle Donne, the best player on the Washington Mystics is taking the year off. The Atlanta Dream have a good starting five outside of their center, but none of their starters scored 10 points a game in their 87-84 preseason win over the Washington Mystics. This leads me to believe the Indiana Fever will be in the 2024 WNBA Playoffs with the Fever getting more televised games than any WNBA team this year due to drafting Caitlin Clark first overall.
I believe the challenger to the New York Liberty in the Eastern Conference will either end up being the Connecticut Sun or the Indiana Fever. Taking Connecticut would be the safe play since they finished second behind the Liberty last year and Connecticut addressed their lone need at center in the second round of the 2024 WNBA Draft with Kansas center Taiyanna Jackson who was a consensus first round prospect. The Indiana Fever should return to the 2024 WNBA Playoffs, but failing to defeat the Dallas Wings shows this team may lack the playoff experience to make a deep run in 2024.
Caitlin Clark will be on her rookie deal until 2028, Aliyah Boston will be on her rookie deal until 2027, and NaLyssa Smith will be on her rookie deal until 2026 with the Indiana Fever. Kelsey Mitchell and Erica Wheeler the two starting guards next to point guard Caitlin Clark both enter contract years in 2024. Indiana has $177,288 to spend for this season if the Fever do well enough to contend right out of the gate if they want to make a move at the trade deadline. Indiana also has $523,606 for 2025 which is more than enough to retain Mitchell and Wheeler on 1 or 2 year team friendly deals with those two players being the only players that cost more than $200,000 in cap space.
There's more certainty with the Indiana Fever's starting five compared to the Connecticut Sun's starting five. I currently have the Indiana Fever making the 2024 WNBA Playoffs, but if the Fever avoid the New York Liberty or a Western Conference Team in the opening round of the 2024 WNBA Playoffs, they can get to the second round of the 2024 WNBA Playoffs. That's probably as far as this young Indiana Fever team goes until they gain more experience.
Indiana is positioned quite nicely as a long-term play in the WNBA as this feels like a team that could make a run at the WNBA Finals in 2025 or 2026 if they retain both Mitchell and Wheeler since the Indiana Fever have a smart GM their former head coach that won a WNBA Title as well as a quality head coach. Right now, Indiana needs to establish their identity with Aliyah Boston and Caitlin Clark by gaining some expereince first though before we can have a conversation about them being a championship contender moving forward.
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