Good Luck Guarding Caitlin Clark and the New Look Indiana Fever

The Indiana Fever had the WNBA’s best offense after the Olympic break last season, and it wasn’t particularly close. This makes the proposition of what they could look like following an influx of offseason acquisitions frightening.

The Fever have wasted no time in building around Caitlin Clark. And given the fit and skill of the players added, it’s hard to imagine any opponent containing the league’s top point guard in her second season.

Not only did Indiana’s additions of DeWanna Bonner, Natasha Howard, and Sophie Cunningham inject the roster with much-needed defense and toughness, but they made it so the Fever can have five scorers on the floor at all times.

With Howard (17.6 points per game in 2024) and Bonner (15 ppg), the Fever will likely trot out a starting lineup that features five of the top 26 scorers in the league from a season ago. That is assuming those two join Clark, Aliyah Boston, and Kelsey Mitchell in the starting lineup.

Meanwhile, Cunningham comes in off a season where she shot 37.8% from three-point range, which allows the Fever to bring two of the WNBA’s best outside shooters off the bench in her and Lexie Hull. When combined with Clark and Mitchell, that gives the Fever four of the top 25 3-point shooters by percentage from 2024 as part of the 2025 rotation.

It stands to reason both Howard and Bonner will also shoot a higher clip from the outside given the types of looks they will get and since catch-and-shoot opportunities are sure to be an area of focus in practice. However, those two players also add a dimension the team lacked offensively a year ago with their ability to run the floor and finish.

All of the above will present a pick-your-poison position for the opposition. Clark already set the all-time record for assists in a single season in her rookie campaign. Now she has more weapons surrounding her. Not to mention she scored 23 points per contest in August and September.

Plus, Clark has notably been in the lab refining her individual bag. Thus, it stands to reason last season is the worst version of her we will ever see.

So, double Clark and she carves the defense up. Single Clark, and good luck. This is the position the revamped front office has put the Fever in.

And that is the new reality coming for the rest of the WNBA.