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SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – MAY 22: Kelsey Mitchell #0, Caitlin Clark #22 and Aliyah Boston #7 of the Indiana Fever react against the Seattle Storm at Climate Pledge Arena on May 22, 2024 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
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INDIANAPOLIS \u2013 On April 11, the Indiana Fever announced that they had re-signed star guard Kelsey Mitchell to a one-year contract. That alone was not news \u2013 star teammate Caitlin Clark called keeping Mitchell a priority<\/a>, and the Fever sent a core qualifying offer to Mitchell. That offer made it impossible for her to negotiate with other teams. Her return was expected.<\/p>\n Yet her signing was significant in that it was a supermax contract<\/a>, meaning for the first time ever a Fever player was set to make $1 million in one season. Mitchell\u2019s deal will pay her 20% of the WNBA\u2019s new salary cap, which is set at $7 million after the league\u2019s new Collective Bargaining Agreement<\/a> was agreed to last month.<\/p>\n \u201cFor nearly a decade, Kelsey has been a foundational piece of the Indiana Fever and securing her return was our highest priority. Kelsey Mitchell is among the top of a long list of great athletes who have elevated not only our city and franchise, but their sport as a whole. She further cemented her legacy last season, and we hope her return underscores how much she is valued by our entire organization,\u201d Fever general manager Amber Cox said in a press release.<\/p>\n Cox mentioned that Mitchell has been with Indiana for nearly a decade, and the salary comparison across those seasons is telling. During Mitchell\u2019s first eight years with the Fever, she made about $1.12 million in total. In her ninth season alone, the three-time All-Star will make $1.4 million.<\/p>\n That growth is significant, and a big deal for the franchise. The Fever\u2019s President of Basketball Operations is Kelly Krauskopf \u2013 she previously held the GM title for the franchise and assumed the role from 2000 to 2017. She\u2019s seen the salary growth of players up close and got to send out the first seven-figure contract in Indiana\u2019s history.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t say enough great things about Kelsey,\u201d Cox said at the team\u2019s media day last week. \u201cShe deserves it.\u201d<\/p>\n Mitchell said that it was humbling for her to ink such a big contract and was grateful to even be able to sign it. She did see what the market had to offer in free agency but chose to sign with the Fever anyway \u2013 and leaving would have been challenging after the core process. \u201cFor all the right reasons, I knew the Fever was the priority,\u201d Mitchell said.<\/p>\n The 2025 All-WNBA team member has played in other leagues throughout her career during WNBA offseasons, including stops in other continents. She expects that to change now.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would have to be a drastic, unique situation for me to go back overseas,\u201d Mitchell said. She played in the United States-based three-on-three league Unrivaled during the most recent offseason and would do so again. \u201cYeah, for sure. That was good basketball and it was in the United States, so I can\u2019t really complain,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Mitchell is still committed to Project B<\/a>, a new startup overseas league she signed with prior to the existence of the new CBA. That may just be Mitchell\u2019s last time leaving North America for basketball after her supermax agreement with the Fever.<\/p>\n Who else received a big contract from the Indiana Fever?<\/p>\n She also wasn\u2019t the only Fever player to sign a contract worth seven figures. Star center Aliyah Boston did so too after receiving the WNBA\u2019s first-ever contract extension via the newly-created Exceptional Performance on Initial Contract (EPIC) provision on April 17.<\/p>\n INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – JUNE 16: Kelsey Mitchell #0 and Aliyah Boston #7 of the Indiana Fever react to a foul by the Chicago Sky during the second half at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on June 16, 2024 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Emilee Chinn\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n Getty Images<\/p>\n