Indiana Fever face key roster selections after Cunningham’s season
Sophie Cunningham’s future with the Indiana Fever is without doubt one of the key questions going through the franchise after the 2026 WNBA season. With Cunningham and Kelsey Mitchell approaching free company, Indiana should weigh its backcourt choices whereas constructing round stars Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston.
Cunningham’s taking pictures, expertise and return from damage may all issue into the workforce’s offseason selections. Do you suppose the Fever ought to deliver Cunningham again for 2027, and what position ought to she have if she returns?
Indiana faces a significant offseason choice
Indiana should determine which gamers to retain because it prepares for the 2027 marketing campaign. Cunningham is certainly one of two outstanding Fever guards going through unrestricted free company, alongside veteran scorer Kelsey Mitchell.
Normal supervisor Amber Cox has expressed a powerful want to maintain Mitchell, whereas remaining much less particular about Cunningham’s future. The group has not introduced a remaining choice on both participant’s subsequent contract.
A knee damage formed her earlier offseason
Cunningham tore the medial collateral ligament in her proper knee late within the 2025 season. The damage restricted her alternatives to display her situation to different groups earlier than coming into the next offseason.
She subsequently signed a one-year deal to return to Indiana for 2026. Her restoration and return to aggressive basketball turned vital components of her newest season as she approached one other free company interval.
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Cunningham contributed throughout the 2026 season
Cunningham appeared on Indiana’s official 2026 roster as a guard carrying No. 8. Her season averages had been 7.9 factors, 2.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists per recreation, in accordance with the WNBA’s participant profile.
These numbers present a statistical baseline for evaluating her contribution to the Fever. Her subsequent contract discussions will happen towards the background of her current manufacturing and expertise throughout eight WNBA seasons.
Her taking pictures stays a part of the dialogue
Cunningham recorded 8.6 factors and three.5 rebounds per recreation throughout her first season with Indiana in 2025. ESPN’s season statistics additionally listing her three-point taking pictures share at 43.2%, displaying her exterior taking pictures manufacturing that yr.
Her 2026 averages had been decrease, in accordance with the WNBA’s official participant profile. Evaluating each seasons provides Indiana a factual start line when assessing her scoring, rebounding and potential position subsequent season.
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Indiana acquired Cunningham by a commerce
Cunningham joined the Fever in January 2025 by a four-team commerce involving the Phoenix Mercury. She had spent the primary six seasons of her WNBA profession in Phoenix earlier than transferring to Indiana.
Throughout these six Mercury seasons, she appeared in 182 video games and averaged 7.7 factors per recreation. Her expertise with two franchises provides her an extended skilled report for groups to think about throughout the present free company interval.
The Fever’s playoff run has ended
Indiana’s 2026 postseason ended towards the Las Vegas Aces within the first spherical. The outcome shifted the workforce’s rapid consideration from playoff competitors towards roster planning and preparations for the subsequent WNBA season.
Cunningham appeared in Indiana’s remaining playoff video games, together with the October 1 matchup in Las Vegas. The Fever now face offseason selections involving returning gamers, free brokers and the group they wish to construct round their main contributors.
Attention-grabbing reality: Sophie Cunningham made Missouri basketball historical past: She completed her school profession with 7 factors, essentially the most in Missouri ladies’s basketball historical past on the time.
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Kelsey Mitchell is one other key free agent
Mitchell’s contract scenario is one other main a part of Indiana’s offseason planning. She averaged 24.7 factors per recreation throughout the 2026 common season, in accordance with revealed season statistics, making her scoring manufacturing an vital consideration within the workforce’s plans.
Cox has publicly indicated that Indiana desires Mitchell to stay with the franchise all through her profession. Her negotiations and Cunningham’s free company signify separate selections that might form the workforce’s backcourt for 2027.
Caitlin Clark stays central to the workforce’s plans
Caitlin Clark is without doubt one of the gamers Indiana is constructing round as it really works towards turning into a championship contender. The Fever’s official roster lists her 2026 averages at 22.3 factors, 4.0 rebounds and eight.3 assists per recreation.
Her position as a number one guard makes the development of the encircling lineup an vital offseason consideration. Indiana’s selections about veteran guards, together with Cunningham and Mitchell, will assist decide how its backcourt is assembled for the subsequent season.
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Aliyah Boston anchors Indiana’s frontcourt
Aliyah Boston is one other central determine in Indiana’s plans for the longer term. The official Fever roster lists the forward-center at 16.1 factors, 8.0 rebounds and three.0 assists per recreation throughout the 2026 season.
Indiana’s administration should take into account how its perimeter gamers complement Boston and Clark. Cunningham’s free company is subsequently one aspect of a broader roster overview, fairly than an remoted choice a few single veteran guard.
Indiana has different roster choices to guage
The Fever had a number of different guards and wings on their 2026 roster, together with Lexie Hull, Tyasha Harris and rookie Raven Johnson. Every participant provides Indiana another choice because the entrance workplace evaluates its backcourt depth.
The workforce additionally had gamers at different positions, together with forward-center Makayla Timpson and ahead Monique Billings. Cunningham’s potential departure is one issue Indiana should take into account alongside its accessible personnel, contract conditions and positional wants throughout the roster.
Cunningham’s subsequent contract stays unsure
Cunningham is approaching unrestricted free company after taking part in the 2026 season on a 1-year contract. Indiana has not introduced a brand new settlement, and Cox has mentioned the workforce seems to be ahead to discussing her future.
Cunningham averaged 7.9 factors, 2.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists whereas taking pictures 41.9% from the 3-point vary. These contributions kind a part of the report Indiana and different groups can consider.
With Indiana’s offseason underway, Cunningham has additionally addressed criticism of her worth to the workforce. Learn how y.
Indiana’s 2027 roster will take form this offseason
Indiana’s subsequent steps will rely on its free company negotiations and the roster selections made by its entrance workplace. Retaining Cunningham may protect continuity among the many workforce’s veteran guards, whereas a departure would create a gap for an additional participant.
Neither final result has been confirmed, leaving her future as one of many Fever’s offseason questions. The workforce’s selections will decide how its supporting forged develops round Clark, Boston and the opposite returning gamers.
Caitlin Clark’s rising reputation has fueled on-line hypothesis about main endorsement alternatives past basketball. Discover whether or not l.
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