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The Indiana Fever made several offseason moves in the last few weeks, but Caitlin Clark has remained fairly quiet.
The Fever signed DeWanna Bonner, a six-time All-Star and two-time WNBA champion, and Natasha Howard, a two-time All-Star and three-time champion. The two signed one-year deals worth at least $200,000—slightly below the maximum salary of about $250,000, which is what the Fever paid to re-sign guard Kelsey Mitchell, Clark’s backcourt partner.
But at Monday’s introductory press conference for Bonner, Clark finally gave her thoughts on the franchise’s offseason moves—and they were overwhelmingly positive.
“We didn’t really have much experience at all playing in playoff games [last year],” Clark said. “Adding pieces, players that have been in this league—they know what it takes to win, they know what it takes to get to the Finals, they know what it takes to win championships—I think it’s exactly what we needed in our locker room.”
Bonner and Howard have played 140 playoff games combined. Before the Fever were swept by Bonner and the Connecticut Sun in the first round last year, their entire roster combined for just 19 total playoff games.
The 37-year-old Bonner, who played her last two seasons with the Sun under new Fever coach Stephanie White, gave a stamp of approval to the Fever’s young core—which consists of Clark, Aliyah Boston, and Lexie Hull—by saying she still wants to “win another championship.”
Indiana’s offseason work also included announcing plans for a $78 million training center in downtown Indianapolis that will open in 2027—the final year of Clark’s rookie deal that pays her an average salary of $84,517 per year. Clark heaped praise on Pacers Sports & Entertainment, the owner of the Fever and the NBA’s Pacers, for its willingness to invest in a franchise despite being in a relatively small market.
“This is the franchise in all of women’s sports, I say. No matter what sport it is. … I think the next few years are going to be amazing for this franchise, and will continue to be for hopefully ten-plus years and hopefully we win a few championships,” Clark said.
