Fever Should Target 10-Time WNBA All-Star in Free Agency to Complement Caitlin Clark
This current WNBA offseason is set up to be fascinating for several reasons. The most notable is the ongoing Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) negotiations between the league and the WNBA league office and its players, which should drastically increase the salaries that WNBA players can receive starting as soon as the 2026 season.
WNBA veterans were shrewd about their current contracts, as every single league veteran except two (Lexie Brown and Kalani Brown) timed their contracts to end this offseason so that they could sign a deal under this new CBA (assuming that it gets agreed to and instituted in time) and benefit from the ability to have a much bigger salary.
Therefore, most of the league's best players are going to become free agents, which means that the league's landscape is going to be altered in a major way.
Given that the Indiana Fever have Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston (both of whom are arguably among the league's 10 best players and aren't free agents this offseason because they're tied to rookie contracts), combined with the team's fantastic culture, most expect a lot of free agents to show interest in taking their talents to Indiana.
Why Nneka Ogwumike Makes Sense for Indiana Fever
Perhaps the most compelling free agent for Indiana would be Nneka Ogwumike, who is a 10-time WNBA All-Star, the 2016 WNBA MVP, and the 2016 WNBA champion.
Indiana was listed as a potential fit for Ogwumike in an October 16 article from The Athletic, and it's clear why this pairing makes sense. Nneka has been one of the league's best forwards for over a decade and is perennially in conversation for the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year award.
Not only would her veteran leadership and pedigree be massively beneficial for the Fever's young core, but Ogwumike could complement both Clark and Boston on offense because she has added a three-point stroke to her game.
Making it rain ⛈️
— Seattle Storm (@seattlestorm) July 28, 2025
Nneka splashes down her third three of the game! pic.twitter.com/qsokDYf8ii
Ogwumike shot 36.7% from three-point range on 4.1 attempts per game in 2025. That's nearly double the number of attempts she had ever shot in a season before this point, and an extremely respectable percentage.
Indiana having a forward who can stretch the floor would create more space for Clark on the perimeter (and add a passing outlet for her) while also giving Boston more space in the post to work with.
While the Fever's front office will have plenty of veteran free agency to potentially target, Nneka Ogwumike should be at the top of their list.
Recommended Reading:
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the Indiana Fever and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.
Follow GrvntYoung