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Alexa Philippou
The Indiana Fever have been dealt an enormous blow Friday with the information that injured guards Sydney Colson and Aari McDonald will miss the rest of the 2025 WNBA season.
Indiana, already with out Caitlin Clark, who has not performed since she injured her proper groin in a recreation July 15, is all the way down to 9 gamers for Saturday’s recreation in opposition to the Chicago Sky.
Colson and McDonald each suffered the season-ending accidents Thursday in a blowout loss at Phoenix. Colson suffered a torn ACL in her left knee within the first quarter; McDonald suffered a damaged bone in her proper foot throughout the fourth quarter.
With 5 weeks left within the common season, the Fever are 17-14 and sit in fifth place within the WNBA standings via Thursday’s video games. The highest eight groups advance to the postseason.
We take a look at how the accidents affect Indiana’s backcourt, the Fever’s beginning 5 and playoff hopes.
What does this imply for the Fever’s potential playoff seed and title pursuit?
The 2025 season has been a curler coaster for the Fever between accidents, inconsistency on the court docket and the midseason departure of DeWanna Bonner. This feels just like the digital collectible blow and, maybe, essentially the most devastating.
By all accounts, Colson and McDonald are beloved teammates in a close-knit Fever group. McDonald was an excellent midseason addition to an Indiana squad that sought level guard depth — exacerbated when Clark first missed time on account of harm — and introduced a defensive power the workforce desperately wanted. Even in additional restricted minutes, Colson supplied a number of the similar qualities and, most significantly, veteran championship expertise to encompass the Fever’s younger core.
The Fever had began to discover a groove with 5 consecutive wins previous to latest losses to the Sparks and the Mercury. McDonald, specifically, was essential to that newfound id. However now Indiana can be compelled to pivot once more to search out some assist on the level, even when Clark returns. It’s going to be a tall process forward to search out somebody who’s as impactful and who matches in addition to McDonald did.
At their finest, and healthiest, the Fever nonetheless have a powerful high six — Clark, Kelsey Mitchell, Aliyah Boston, Natasha Howard, Sophie Cunningham and Lexie Hull — together with probably the greatest trios within the league in Clark, Mitchell and Boston. However with the questions surrounding Clark’s well being (when she returns and the way she performs when she will get again), and now the issues over who they will have behind her, the Fever’s margin for error for a deep playoff push obtained a lot slimmer — all whereas groups just like the Lynx, Liberty, Mercury and Storm made midseason strikes giving them extra depth heading into the playoffs.
What is going to the Fever’s beginning 5 appear to be? How does the backcourt regulate?
For now, there’s going to be much more on the shoulders of Mitchell, Cunningham and Hull, the workforce’s sole remaining guards. The Fever might deliver Hull into the beginning 5 alongside Mitchell, Cunningham, Howard and Boston, and hope that Mitchell and Cunningham can juggle ball dealing with duties within the quick time period.
Indiana will look to usher in a hardship participant however can achieve this solely after a participant(s) misses a recreation. Which means the earliest a newcomer might be part of the Fever can be for Tuesday’s recreation in opposition to Dallas.
If there’s any comfort, it is that the Fever’s upcoming schedule is pretty favorable. They host three straight video games in opposition to groups within the backside quarter of the standings (the equally injury-riddled Chicago on Saturday, Dallas on Tuesday and Washington subsequent Friday) earlier than touring to Connecticut, which is in final place, every week from Sunday.
Who will the Fever look to signal?
It is not best to have to usher in a brand new participant two-thirds of the best way into the season, particularly a degree guard who can be tasked with working the offense. Even much less best, the Fever wish to make this transfer a mere hours after the commerce deadline. However Indiana has no alternative at this level.
As a result of league guidelines, the Fever will not be capable to signal a hardship participant till after tomorrow’s recreation in opposition to Chicago. They may have 9 gamers accessible for that contest. https://t.co/Bogt3gGO3a
— Alexa Philippou (@alexaphilippou) August 8, 2025
There are some free brokers who may very well be logical candidates: Jaylyn Sherrod was just lately waived by the Liberty to make room for Emma Meesseman. Grace Berger, the Fever’s 2023 No. 7 draft choose, is at the moment with the Wings on her third seven-day contract, and both needs to be signed to a rest-of-season contract or be launched, which might work within the Fever’s favor.
Indiana might additionally search to signal a extra skilled guard, similar to Odyssey Sims or Shey Peddy, each of whom final performed within the league for the Sparks this previous June.
What is the digital collectible on when Caitlin Clark may return?
Clark has been restricted to particular person rehab and exercises and has but to return to workforce actions. Even when that occurs, she’d presumably want time to ramp as much as full 5-on-5 play. So there isn’t any indication that Clark’s return is especially imminent.
Do these accidents change Clark’s timeline? There wasn’t as a lot urgency for her to return only a few days in the past, when Indiana was rolling because the winner of 5 straight video games. However the workforce has additionally been adamant that Clark’s long-term well being is of utmost concern, so the group may decide to trip the wave of McDonald’s and Colson’s absences and handle with the gamers they’ve accessible, together with any new additions subsequent week.