Players vying for final spot in training camp

INDIANAPOLIS — The beginning of Fever training camp Sunday will officially start a fight for the final spot on the Indiana’s 2025 roster — one that five players are aiming for.

The Fever have 15 players coming into camp, and while league teams can carry up to 12 players on the roster, the Fever will only be able to carry 11 on opening day because of salary cap limitations.

Indiana has 10 players signed to standard contracts, with five coming via free agency to join the Fever.

Kelsey Mitchell, who is the Fever’s designated core player making about $250,000, and Natasha Howard, who is making the regular league max, are the Fever’s highest-paid players this season. Damiris Dantas ($100,000 salary) and Lexie Hull (around $88,000 salary) join Mitchell and Howard on protected contracts, meaning the Fever will need to pay them even if they are cut for any reason.

The Fever also owe Katie Lou Samuelson around $106,000 because of a buyout of her contract that originally went through the end of the 2025 season.

DeWanna Bonner, Sophie Cunningham, Sydney Colson and Brianna Turner all signed unprotected contracts, which means the Fever can cut them without monetary penalty. But cutting any of these players seems unlikely for the Fever brass. Aliyah Boston, who had her fourth-year option picked up for 2026, and Caitlin Clark are also still on their unprotected rookie contracts. They’re not going anywhere, obviously.

So, that likely gives the Fever 10 spots already filled heading into training camp and a salary cap hit of $1,394,827, per Her Hoop Stats. That leaves Indiana with around $112,000 in cap space. The league minimum is $66,000 for players with 0-2 years of experience and roughly $75,000 for players with 3 or more years. So the Fever only have enough room for one more spot on its opening day roster.

Here are the five players vying for that final spot:

Jaelyn Brown

Brown, a 26-year-old guard, came to Indiana from Dallas in the four-team trade that also saw Cunningham head to the Fever from Phoenix and NaLyssa Smith head to the Wings. She had limited playing time in Dallas in 2024 because of various ailments, including a broken nose and an illness. She ended up playing 14 games, averaging 10.1 minutes and 2.6 points per game.

She went undrafted in 2020 after four years at Cal and started her professional career overseas. She got her first shot at the WNBA with Dallas in 2024 and stuck on the roster, despite her injuries.

If she were to make the roster, she would make the league-minimum $66,079.

Jillian Alleyne

Indiana signed Alleyne to a training camp contract in March. A forward, Alleyne has played most of her professional career overseas, most recently averaging 18.6 points and 13.8 rebounds with Turkey’s Tarsus Belediyesi Mersin.

Alleyne, 30, was the 20th overall pick by Phoenix in the 2016 draft, but did not stick on the opening day roster. She played five games for Minnesota in 2019 and signed a hardship contract with the Lynx in 2022.

She would bring some frontcourt depth to the Fever, playing behind Boston, Howard, Dantas and Turner. She would make the league-minimum if she sticks on the opening day roster.

Makayla Timpson

Timpson was the Fever’s first pick in the 2025 draft at No. 19 overall out of Florida State. She broke many of Natasha Howard’s own FSU records, corralling 1,094 rebounds (over Howard’s 1,046) and the program leader with 46 double-doubles in her four-year career.

Timpson already has a connection to Howard with their similar positions and alma mater, and she could be a good depth piece for the Fever frontcourt. She would make $69,267 if she is on the opening day roster.

Bree Hall

Hall, who played with Boston at South Carolina for two years, is no stranger to success. She went to four straight Final Fours as a Gamecock, winning the 2021 national championship. 

She was the No. 20 pick in the draft by the Fever this year and will join a crowded guard room. Her defensive efforts could make her stand out on a team that is prioritizing defense this season, as well.

Hall would make $69,267 if she makes the opening day roster.

Yvonne Ejim

The Fever’s final pick of the 2025 draft at No. 33 overall, Ejim, a forward, is coming to Indiana as the back-to-back West Coast Conference Player of the Year at Gonzaga.

Ejim averaged 14.8 points and 7.1 rebounds in her senior season and left Gonzaga as the second all-time leading scorer in WCC history. She would give the Fever some frontcourt depth behind their main rotational players.

Ejim would make the league-minimum $66,079 if she were to make the roster.