INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Fever’s goal entering this past season: make the playoffs.
Behind Kelsey Mitchell, Aliyah Boston and Caitlin Clark, they achieved that goal and more, getting the No. 6 seed out of the eight-team playoff and finishing with a .500 record for the first time since 2016. Now, after reaching the postseason for the first time in eight years, they’re setting their sights higher.
“We want to play for championships,” Fever general manager Lin Dunn said. “And so to be able to see this team go in a three-year period from five to 13 to 20 (wins), to have fans hanging from the rafters, and I mean hanging from the rafters, sold-out arenas, not only at home, but on the road, it means the world to me.”
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There’s optimism in the franchise’s future. And they want that future to include Mitchell.
“She’s been a staple here, and we want her here,” coach Christie Sides said. “She’s a Hall-of-Fame player to me here.”
Mitchell, 28, has spent her entire seven-year WNBA career with the Fever. She’s been the one to see the highs and lows, multiple coaching changes, losing seasons and the fight to get back into the playoffs. And she’s been consistent through all of that.
Mitchell has been the Fever’s leading scorer for all but two of her seasons; she was Indiana’s second-leading scorer as a rookie in 2018, then finished with 767 regular-season points this year to Clark’s 769. She’s the consistent scorer and the veteran presence the Fever need.
“Kelsey Mitchell is one of the keys for us to get to the level that Lin is talking about, you know, playing for championships,” Sides said. “She’s that important. Her growth over the last couple years on the basketball court, on both ends of the floor has just been incredible.”
Mitchell has been through a lot in 2024; her dad, Mark, suddenly died in March at 56. She was extremely close to him, and he was her coach throughout her childhood and during her college years at Ohio State. Her dad was the person she always talked to about basketball, whether she had a good or bad game.
After her father’s death, Mitchell went back to her hometown of Cincinnati to visit with her mother as much as possible throughout training camp and the regular season. Cincinnati is just a two-hour drive from Indianapolis, meaning Mitchell could frequently make the drive as a day trip or a quick overnight visit.
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“My dad prepared me for every kind of moment,” Mitchell said back in June. “I can go into any atmosphere, any circumstance, and be able to come out smelling like fresh air, and that’s because of my dad. Anything you throw at me, I’m gonna get back up.”
Mitchell had one of the best years of her career in 2024. Named an All-Star for the second straight season, she posted a franchise-record seven straight 20+ scoring games coming out of the Olympic break this season, and she averaged 19.2 points per game.
She is an unrestricted free agent heading into the offseason. Mitchell negotiated a three-year contract extension in 2021 for a total of $618,000, which expired following the 2024 season. The time has passed for the Fever and Mitchell to sign another contract extension; that needed to be done by the last day of the regular season on Sept. 19.
Now, with free agency potentially on the way, Mitchell says she needs to make the best decision for herself.
“I think everything for me is so fresh that I don’t know what I what I need and what I’m going to do, but I know that when time comes and the opportunity is right for me, I’ll make those decisions,” Mitchell said. “Obviously, I’ve always had a home in Indy, so it could potentially be a home for me again, but I think right now, the switching dynamic of my family and everything, I got to do what’s best for me. That’s no hanging my hat on one team or another, but I think it’s specifically for me. I got to be selfish about that process.”
Right now, she doesn’t know how that process is going to work out. WNBA free agency doesn’t officially start until January, when teams are able to reach out to players and negotiate.
Mitchell is also eligible to be cored by the Fever, which is similar to the NFL’s franchise tag. WNBA teams can core one outgoing unrestricted free agent per offseason cycle, but players can not be cored for more than two total seasons. Because Mitchell agreed to a contract extension in 2021, she has never been cored.
“We’re always talking about the future,” Dunn said of Mitchell’s contract ahead of the Fever’s second playoff game. “We’re always talking about who we need to keep, contracts we need to negotiate. Of course, that’s ongoing.”
By coring Mitchell, the Fever would automatically agree to give her a one-year supermax deal, which amounted to $241,984 in 2024, according to Her Hoop Stats. Mitchell and the Fever could negotiate a longer contract or different salary out of the core designation, but it gives the Fever exclusive negotiating rights.
The supermax wouldn’t be too much of a jump from Mitchell’s 2024 salary, which was $212,000. With the current roster construction and outgoing free agents on Indiana’s side, it could afford the $30,000 salary increase. Core deisgnations, though, also won’t happen until January.
So, it’s a waiting game for Mitchell — and the fans that want her back in a Fever jersey.
“When I know, you’ll know,” Mitchell added with a smile.
