Caitlin Clark is back in Iowa getting her college jersey retired this weekend, but she’s still in tune with the Indiana Fever’s offseason moves.
Fever president Kelly Krauskopf and GM Amber Cox have been busy over the past few days, making a flurry of moves to transform Indiana into a contender. The Fever have acquired forward Natasha Howard, who has 10 years of experience and three WNBA championship rings, and 15-year veteran DeWanna Bonner, who has been a large part of two championships.
Indiana also traded for sharpshooter Sophie Cunningham, guard Jaelyn Brown, and the No. 19 pick in exchange for NaLyssa Smith and the No. 8 pick in the draft.
Doyel: 2025 WNBA Finals are in October. After Fever’s offseason, clear your calendar.
All of those players will complement Clark, the 2024 No. 1 pick and Rookie of the Year who has changed the game. It will also provide depth behind 2023 No. 1 pick Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell, who the Fever cored this season.
“I’m excited,” Clark said Sunday during her availability session at Iowa. “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.”
The Fever went 20-20 in Clark’s first season, earning the No. 6 seed in the playoffs before getting swept by the Connecticut Sun in the first round. So, the Fever hired coach Stephanie White away from the Sun, giving Indiana an experienced and successful coach who has ample experience in the playoffs.
As an analyst for college games in the WNBA offseason, White has coached against Clark and called her games — meaning she knows the star guard’s weaknesses. Now, White can help her with those.
“Steph taking over as head coach for us, I think is going to be really great,” Clark said. “A great basketball mind, somebody that actually called quite a few of my college games. So being able to build that relationship with her and just be in the gym and work on things that she probably saw when I was a freshman in college. ‘Oh, that girl still can’t make a left-handed layup.’ We’re still working on that.”
The Fever are becoming contenders with these moves, and its coming at a time of transformative change for the league as a whole.
CATCH THE FEVER: Sign up for our newsletter
There have been multiple blockbuster moves, including Brittney Griner heading to Atlanta after 10 years with Phoenix, Alyssa Thomas and Satou Sabally heading to Phoenix in trades, Jewell Loyd going to the Aces and Kelsey Plum to L.A.
More and more teams, including the Fever, are announcing state-of-the-art facilities, and the collective bargaining agreement is set to be renegotiated following the 2025 season. More teams are joining the league, with the Golden State Valkyries starting play in 2025 and Toronto Tempo and Portland starting in 2026.
“It’s just exciting times,” Clark said. “And I think you look around the WNBA and that goes for all 13 teams now. There’s real trade and there’s real activity, and there’s fun free agency (moves) to follow. And that’s making people so excited about it. What’s going to attract more people to our league is you get to follow these storylines. So it’s really exciting and I’m looking forward to next year.”
USA TODAY sports reporter Nancy Armour contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: What Caitlin Clark had to say about Fever trades, free agent signings
