Jun 3, 2025; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indiana Fever guard Lexie Hull (10), guard Caitlin Clark (22), and guard Sophie Cunningham (8) laugh near the team bench during a game between the Indiana Fever and the Washington Mystics at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Mandatory Credit: Grace Smth- INDIANAPOLIS STAR-Imagn Images Grace Smith-INDIANAPOLIS STAR-Imagn Images

What the Indiana Fever Can Actually Spend in Free Agency

Originally posted on Indiana Fever on SI
By Robin Lundberg | Last updated Apr 5, 2026 10:09 PM ET

The Indiana Fever have a lot to juggle heading into WNBA free agency. Like every team in the league, the majority of their players from 2025 will be free agents and this also comes as the new collective bargaining agreement has changed the landscape of contract values and the salary cap, which is up to $7 million for 2026.

The Fever's biggest advantage is that franchise cornerstones Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston are not free agents. Those two and last year's rookie Makayla Timpson make up the three players who are under contract.

Here is what the team's current salary situation looks like per the latest data from Spotrac.

Players	Salary
Caitlin Clark	$528,846
Aliyah Boston	$574,612
Makayla Timpson	$277,500

Those numbers total to $1,380,958 leaving $5,619,042 in space under the new inflated cap. There is a catch however. Under the fresh CBA's "EPIC" provision (Exceptional Performance on Initial Contract), Boston is eligible to sign a three-year max extension now. The numbers above are based on her current 4th year option the Fever exercised last season. If she takes advantage of the new quirk, Boston can make a max of $1.19 million, which would knock the available cap room down to just about $5 million.

The franchise has also made it clear that bringing back star guard Kelsey Mitchell is priority number one. Mitchell is supermax eligible, so assuming that happens, she will occupy another $1.4 million of the cap.

Do Fever Prioritize Keeping Core?

Working under the assumption that Mitchell is re-signed, that takes the Fever down to approximately $3.6 million left available and that's without accounting for restricted free agent Lexie Hull or possibly bringing back Sophie Cunningham.

The team must carry 12 players on the roster, so beyond the big three, they would have about an average of $400,000 to spend per player under the scenario outlined. The average player salary for 2026 is set to just over $583,000, with minimums ranging from $270,000 to $300,000 depending on years of service.

There's still some room to operate even if the team has its star trio locked up, but the margins get smaller if Hull and Cunningham come back on substantial raises. And of course, given the essentially blank palette the team enters free agency with, there's always the possibility they change direction and take a big swing on another available player—which would change the math completely.

The good news for fans is the anxiety will resolve soon, and we will all see what the Fever front office has up its sleeve.

This article first appeared on Indiana Fever on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: