Damiris Dantas rejoins Fever after return from injury: ‘I couldn’t wait for this moment.’

INDIANAPOLIS — Four months after suffering an MCL injury in her right knee, Indiana Fever forward Damiris Dantas is back on the court.

Dantas, a 6-4 forward from Brazil, signed with the Fever back in February after taking a year off from the WNBA. When deciding to come back to the league, she said her relationship with coach Christie Sides and general manager Lin Dunn is what pushed her to sign with Indiana on a two-year guaranteed deal. Dantas already has some connections to Indiana, too: She played with fellow Fever forward Temi Fagbenle in Minnesota.

“My first call with coach and Lin, I felt the energy, the vibe, they support me with everything, so that made my choice, and I am so happy,” Dantas said. “I have good teammates here, everybody is super helpful and helps me, it’s like a family.”

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Dantas is an nine-year WNBA veteran, playing six years with Minnesota in two stints and three years with Atlanta. Her best season came in 2020 with Minnesota, as she averaged 12.9 points and 6.1 rebounds per game in the shortened WNBA season because of COVID-19. The last time she played in the WNBA was 2022, playing 15 games for the Lynx and averaging 5.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game.

“I can bring everything,” Dantas said. “More energy, I have experience: I’ve played in this league for nine years, so I hope I help my teammates.”

Dantas couldn’t make it to the first week of training camp because of visa issues and a death in the family, and arrived with a right knee injury from playing overseas in Turkey. The Fever temporarily suspended her contract to allow her time to recover, and activated her Tuesday.

Dantas said she’s been doing 5-on-5 and a lot of defense. After practice Wednesday, she said she should be available for the Fever’s road trip this weekend, which includes Seattle, Phoenix and Las Vegas.

“I’m so excited,” Dantas said. “I couldn’t wait for this moment. I worked hard to be ready, to help my teammates, help the team, so now it’s just the best part, to enjoy it.”

She was mainly working with the second-team in practice, which also included Fagbenle, Katie Lou Samuelson, Lexie Hull and Erica Wheeler. Sides said Dantas will primarily be playing the 4 and the 5, backing up Aliyah Boston and NaLyssa Smith.

“She’s a presence in the post, she can also shoot the ball really well outside the 3,” Sides said. “She can stretch the floor, or she can go to work in the post.”

Dantas’ return coincides with Fagbenle’s return from a foot injury, in which she has missed 11 games. Both Dantas and Fagbenle will provide some much-needed depth in the frontcourt for Boston and Smith, but Sides said she hasn’t decided how the minutes will play out between the four of them.

Fagbenle was starting in place of Smith before she got injured. Smith has been active offensively in Fagbenle’s absence, though, averaging 13.8 points and 7.0 rebounds per game over the past five games.

“It’s just going to be something we’re gonna have to play with,” Sides said. “Damiris hasn’t been an option for us yet, Temi showed us what she can do. So now Di just has to get in, and it’s going to take some time, but she’s going to get those minutes, and we’ll figure that out along the way.”

Waiving Celeste Taylor ‘a business decision’ for Indiana Fever

Activating Dantas also meant the Fever needed to make a corresponding move on the roster. Indiana waived guard Celeste Taylor, who was the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and the 15th overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft. Taylor only played in five of the Fever’s first 18 games, averaging 3.2 minutes per game.

“That was just a really hard decision,” Sides said. “Celeste did everything we asked, she’s a great teammate, she talked the most as a rookie. She felt really comfortable communicating on the court. It was just really hard to let her go, it was a business decision. One of the hardest thing we have to do in this business.”

Follow IndyStar Fever Insider Chloe Peterson on X at @chloepeterson67.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Damiris Dantas finally joins Indiana Fever after return from injury