Caitlin Clark MVP Could Have Fever Salary Ramifications
Indiana Fever star guard Caitlin Clark has a real chance at winning the 2026 WNBA MVP award.
The most likely winner is still Las Vegas Aces star forward A'ja Wilson, and Minnesota Lynx rookie Olivia Miles is also in the running. But at the very least, Clark has earned a spot in the MVP conversation for her 2026 campaign.
If Clark were to win the MVP this year, it would exacerbate an already fascinating and potentially foreboding salary situation the Fever will have to reckon with.
The WNBA's EPIC (Exceptional Performance on Initial Contract) provision lets players renegotiate what would have been the fourth year of their deal, which would be the 2027 season for Clark.
A player can earn the max salary in that fourth year if they'd been named to the All-WNBA First Team or All-WNBA Second Team at some point, and would become eligible for a supermax salary if they'd previously earned the MVP award.
Clark earned All-WNBA First Team honors in 2024, which means she can already renegotiate a max salary next season (and make up to 17% of the Fever's 2027 cap). If she were to win MVP this year, the supermax would mean she could earn 20% of the Fever's cap next season.
While that 3% increase might not seem like a lot, it actually is when trying to be stretched across an entire roster. Especially a roster that has several superstars who need to be paid their worth.
Caitlin Clark MVP Salary Could Impact Kelsey Mitchell's Fever Future
Fever star guard Kelsey Mitchell is making the $1.4 million supermax in 2026, which is equivalent to 20% of Indiana's salary cap this season.
She's an unrestricted free agent after this year, and the Fever can't place a core tag on her again. Therefore, if Clark were to win MVP, she, Boston, and Mitchell could all have supermax contracts that would account for 60% of the Fever's salary space next season.
That's an absurd amount of money to pay three players when the rest of the roster must be filled out. While these three would be worth the money, it would also leave the rest of the Fever's roster devoid of depth.
Perhaps Clark and/or Mitchell would be willing to take less money to keep this trio together (Boston already took less of a salary than she could have this season to create more cap space for other players). But that's a lot to ask and not guaranteed.
Even if Clark doesn't win MVP, the Fever will still be facing this scenario next season, albeit with 3% more salary space to work with than they would if Clark did win MVP.
Still, this adds another fascinating factor in the WNBA MVP race for Fever fans to follow.
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Grant Young covers women’s basketball for Women’s Fastbreak and Indiana Fever On SI. His coverage centers on league trends and the growth of women’s basketball, both on and off the court. He also creates digital content focused on the sport’s biggest moments and personalities.
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