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NaLyssa Smith situation among top Indiana Fever offseason questions

NaLyssa Smith situation among top Indiana Fever offseason questions
WNBA

NaLyssa Smith situation among top Indiana Fever offseason questions

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Caitlin Clark’s rookie season with the Indiana Fever has now reached its conclusion.

With a record-setting rookie campaign in the rearview, Clark and the organization can turn their attention toward continuing to improve the team’s makeup and long-term outlook.

Thanks to Clark joining the franchise, the Fever improved tremendously in her lone WNBA season thus far. Indiana improved from a 13-27 squad in 2023 to a 20-20 team that captured the No. 6 seed and advanced to the WNBA Playoffs for the first time since 2016.

The hope is for that upward trajectory to continue and for the Fever to build into a bonafide championship contender with Clark.

Indiana has several important roster questions that need to be addressed over the offseason.

The Fever have three free agents this offseason in guards Kelsey Mitchell and Erica Wheeler and in center Temi Fagbenle. Mitchell and Wheeler will be unrestricted free agents, while Fagbenle will be a restricted free agent.

The Fever’s roster questions are likely larger than that trio alone, however.

Forward NaLyssa Smith just completed her third season after being selected No. 2 overall in the 2022 WNBA draft.

Though Smith started 37 of 40 games this season, she wasn’t in the starting lineup for the Fever in their do-or-die Game 2 at the Connecticut Sun. That decision came after Smith played just nine minutes in the series opener. Smith was scoreless in the two postseason games.

CBS Sports discussed the NaLyssa Smith situation in its early offseason breakdown of the Indiana Fever.

Smith is not a free agent. The Fever picked up the fourth-year option on her rookie-scale contract back in April, and she has a protected (guaranteed) salary of $91,000 for 2025. However, there is a good chance that she is not back with the Fever next season.

Though she started 37 of 40 games this season, she was often not on the floor in crunch time and got benched for the must-win Game 2 in Connecticut. She has not yet developed a reliable 3-point shot, but also cannot play the five by herself, which limited the Fever’s lineup flexibility. When she was on the court, the Fever had a minus-9.0 net rating, and when she sat, they had a plus 6.7 net rating. That differential was the biggest on the team by a mile.

It’s clear that Smith will not be part of the long-term future in Indianapolis. She posted what can easily be read as a farewell message on social media and removed the Fever from her bios on those sites.

Smith is a talented player who just turned 24 years old. There will almost certainly be teams willing to buy low on a former No. 2 overall pick. If the Fever can send her somewhere for a fresh start, while getting a better fit for the roster in return, that would be best for both parties. – Jack Maloney, CBS Sports.

Smith finished the 2024 WNBA season averaging 10.6 points and 7.1 rebounds per game while shooting 48.0% from the floor and 29.2% from 3-point range. Her points and rebounds per game averages were down from 2023 when she averaged 15.5 points and 9.2 rebounds per game.

Smith did seem to post a message on X that made her future with the franchise seem pretty murky.

With the Fever franchise having picked up the fourth-year option on Smith’s contract, it sets the organization up to try to work a trade out that can be mutually beneficial for Smith and for the Fever’s future.

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Story originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire



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