Caitlin Clark, during her recent appearance on NBC, confirmed that signing Kelsey Mitchell back was one of the top priorities of the Fever ahead of the 2026 season. This statement came as a relief to fans who were concerned about Mitchell’s future with the Fever as she enters free agency.
While the retention of the All-WNBA trio, dubbed the ‘Big 3,’ seems like a season-winning move on paper, a WNBA analyst has pointed out the financial pressure the Fever would eventually be under if they went ahead with it.
Commenting on the statement made by Caitlin Clark, Rachel DeMita said, “A lot of Fever fans have been worried if the Big 3 will be able to return to the Fever because of the new WNBA and how the salary structure is. Each team can only have two max or super max contract players. So that becomes difficult when you have these three on the team.”
She continued, “However, for this year, Caitlin Clark is still on her rookie deal. She’s not eligible for a max contract until next year. So the Indiana Fever can put Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell on max contracts, which gives them at least one more year to try to run it back with these three. And assuming that all three of them are healthy and they’re able to get some good free agents in the offseason, then this is going to be a very scary team.”