The Indiana Fever just got devastating news — and now face a difficult decision

The Indiana Fever announced on Friday afternon that they’ll be without two rotation players for the rest of the season: guards Sydney Colson (torn left ACL) and Aari McDonald (broken right foot). That means they officially have no healthy point guards, as Caitlin Clark remains sidelined with a right groin strain she re-aggravated last month.

Colson, who the Fever signed this past winter, had been playing 13.5 minutes off the bench and got carried out in the first quarter of Thursday’s loss to the Phoenix Mercury. At age 36, she was in the twilight years of her WNBA career, but was nonetheless an important rotation player, particularly in Clark’s absence.

McDonald, meanwhile, signed a rest-of-season contract with Indiana midseason and has averaged 9.8 points and 4.7 assists since. She’s had several big games since she joined the Fever in June, including a 27-point outing against the Phoenix Mercury on July 30th.

With both guards sidelined for the rest of the year, Indiana is down to 9 players, given that Caitlin Clark remains sidelined with a groin strain. The Fever won’t be able to sign any hardship contracts until after Saturday’s game against the Chicago Sky, so they’ll be particularly shorthanded in the short term.

The Fever will look to sign two free-agent guards

The Fever will undoubtedly look to sign two available guards, but their options are limited. They’re unable to make any trades given that the WNBA trade deadline was August 7th, just hours before both Colson and McDonald went down. So, free agency is the only option — and who the Fever select will be critical.

Odyssey Sims, who averaged 9.8 points and 3.5 assists for the Los Angeles Sparks before being waived last month, is one particularly intriguing option. Sims is a veteran who has had a long WNBA career. In 2024, she averaged 12.6 points and 5.2 assists, shooting 48.3% from the field and 34.5% from three.

Chennedy Carter, who has not played in the WNBA this season but averaged 17.5 points for the Chicago Sky, could be another option.

The Fever currently have the WNBA’s fifth-best record at 17-14. If the playoffs started today, they’d face the Phoenix Mercury in the first round of the playoffs.