These free agents are exactly who Caitlin Clark and Fever need to win WNBA championship

These free agents are exactly who Caitlin Clark and Fever need to win WNBA championship originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . The Fever surpassed all expectations in 2025 when, playing without Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham, Indiana pushed the Las Vegas Aces all the way to a fifth and deciding game in the WNBA semifinals.

Now healthy entering 2026, the Fever will be among a handful of bonafide title contenders, and Indiana will be a popular dark horse pick to capture its first title in 14 years. However, the Fever's roster could be among the WNBA's more expensive talent assemblages, which will raise the ante on head coach Stephanie White to deliver a title before long. With Indiana now firmly in a championship window, though — and 77 players reaching unrestricted free agency at the same time this week — the Fever may prove to be a desirable destination.

Former WNBA champions DeWanna Bonner and Natasha Howard saw the vision and joined Indiana in free agency last year, though Bonner eventually left to rejoin the Phoenix Mercury . These four players would be high-impact additions to an Indiana core led by Clark and Aliyah Boston, and their arrivals might make the difference in September. MORE: WNBA Expansion Draft grades for Fire and Tempo Ezi Magbegor Magbegor, an All-Star in 2023, is one of the premier defensive bigs in the WNBA.

She has been an All-Defense selection for four years running and garnered a first-team selection in 2024, when she finished third in Defensive Player of the Year voting. Magbegor has spent her entire six-year career with the Storm, and Seattle could easily re-sign her as the franchise retools under new head coach Sonia Raman and around budding superstar Dominique Malonga. But pairing Magbegor with Boston would be terrifying for opponents; even though the former has some questions about her shot, her rim protection would be transformational for a team that finished seventh in defensive efficiency in 2025.