Stephanie White Gets Real on Fever’s Free Agency ‘Game Plan’ and Core Reality

Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White assessed where her team stands amid this uncertain WNBA offseason.

Aug 1, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White during the game between the Dallas Wings and the Indiana Fever at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

This current WNBA offseason contains a ton of uncertainty for all 13 current teams. In fact, there should be 15 current teams, with the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire set to join the league, but they don't even know when their respective Expansion Drafts will occur because of the ongoing CBA negotiations.

Therefore, this is perhaps the most challenging offseason of all for the league's front offices. They have to prepare to contend in 2026 while having no idea what their rosters will look like, given that both expansion teams will be taking players, along with that almost every active WNBA veteran is set to enter free agency.

The Indiana Fever are in a slightly different place, if only because arguably their two best players (Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston) are still on rookie contracts and thus won't be going anywhere. But that doesn't mean the Fever's front office or coaching staff has an easy task ahead of them this winter.

Jul 15, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) reacts with a possible injury after a play against the Connecticut Sun in the second half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images | David Butler II-Imagn Images

Stephanie White Sends Telling Message on Fever Offseason Strategy

Fever head coach Stephanie White was the guest on a December 5 episode of the Bird's Eye View podcast. When WNBA legend Sue Bird asked whether she could game plan for who the Fever wants to get on their roster this offseason, White said, "I think we game plan for what we'd like to have. I think the way that things shake out, in terms of what it looks like financially, we have a young core. So that will certainly impact our ability to make certain moves in free agency.

"I'm glad I'm not the GM, I can tell you that," White added. "From a timing standpoint, how much time there will be to adjust, what it's gonna look like, roster space, roster management. Not just what it looks like financially. How many players are we gonna have on our roster? What is it gonna look like for us? We can't just think in terms of one year. What's it gonna look like for us in the next three years? What can it look like in the next three years, what can it look like in the next five years?"

She then added, "So I think the buffer of when we would have normally had a three to four week timeframe to look at it, is not gonna be there. So we're gonna have to make decisions quickly. You know, our ability to sort of anticipate what might come down the pipe is not there. So hopefully, we'll be able to respond instead of react in a timely manner, and whatever that time frame might look like."

At least the Fever aren't alone in feeling unsure about what lies ahead. And regardless of how this WNBA offseason goes, they have two fantastic core players to build around.