The Indiana Fever had struggled to stay around .500 toward the end of June and beginning of July after star guard Caitlin Clark went down with a right groin injury.
Clark, the reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year, has dealt with more than a handful of ailments this season including a left quadriceps, left groin, and a hand injury during the preseason.
Of Indiana’s 27 games this season including the Commissioner’s Cup championship, Clark has played in just 13 of them. She’s been sidelined since an 85-77 win over the Connecticut Sun on July 15.
The Fever lost back-to-back games immediately after Clark’s injury — both defeats to the New York Liberty — but they reeled off consecutive wins against the Las Vegas Aces and Chicago Sky since to get back to two games above .500.
And after the latest report from ESPN’s Holly Rowe over the weekend, it seems the Fever are planning on being without Clark for a while.
“Stephanie White did tell us that they will be even more cautious in their approach to her return to play this time,” Rowe recently reported, via the New York Post. “Last time when she came back from injury, she didn’t get any practice time [or] any time to ramp up her conditioning. This time, they’re going to make sure she has time and practices to get rhythm and time with her teammates.
“As you look at their schedule, the third week in August provides a few more practice days where that seems like it’s realistic. While she does remain day to day, that’s seems like a better timetable for a possible Caitlin Clark return.”
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With Clark potentially sidelined for multiple weeks, ESPN’s Kevin Pelton believes the Fever could look to bolster their frontcourt through a trade with the Dallas Wings.
Pelton predicted Indiana would send center Damiris Dantas plus a 2026 second-round pick to Dallas for forward Myisha Hines-Allen.
“After shooting 36% on 3s last season, split between the Mystics and Lynx, Hines-Allen is down to 30% this season,” Pelton wrote. “Since Hines-Allen is a career 35% shooter, improvement should be expected. Even that down season from Hines-Allen has been better beyond the arc than Dantas, shooting 26.5% (34% career but just 31% since 2021).
“As a third post behind starters Aliyah Boston and Natasha Howard, Hines-Allen should be an improvement. And with the Wings five games out of the eighth seed, getting anything in return would probably make this trade worth it.”
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The Fever have already undergone a few roster changes this season in releasing six-time All-Star DeWanna Bonner and signing former No. 3 overall pick Aari McDonald to replace her, so shaking things up even more in Clark’s absence wouldn’t be terribly surprising.
A WNBA champion and All-WNBA second-team selection, Hines-Allen would give Indiana some much-needed depth up front while adding some solid insurance on the boards (she averaging 6.3 points and 5.2 rebounds per game this year) until Clark returns and adds more scoring punch.