The Indiana Fever must find a way to keep Aari McDonald
The Indiana Fever have a pretty key roster decision ahead of them, but it should be a no-brainer.
This team has to lock in emergency hardship guard Aari McDonald for the rest of the season. It absolutely has to.
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After Saturday's impressive 79-52 win over the Chicago Sky, McDonald proved why she's the best option on the roster to back up superstar Caitlin Clark at point guard once the latter gets healthy enough to play again.
Veteran guard Sydney Colson assumed starting point guard duties when Clark exited the lineup with a quad strain, as her extensive experience in the WNBA brought the smarts needed to set a tone running the point.
However, there wasn't a close competition between which point guard made Indiana look sharper on the court. McDonald, a hardship exemption addition by the Fever after her surprise cut by the Los Angeles Sparks, is a perfect fit in Fever coach Stephanie White's system.
With her speed, three-point shooting, stingy defense and, most importantly, her ability to run the offense at a high level, the Fever can play a brisker, friskier styler of basketball.
McDonald brings something to the Fever that it lacked even when Clark was in the lineup. The team needs a young, speedy point guard to take some of Clark's minutes and continue to facilitate offense when she's on the bench. Just watching McDonald help unlock guard Kelsey Mitchell in her two-game stint with the Fever has been really encouraging.
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Against the Washington Mystics on Tuesday, McDonald played a bench-high 27 minutes for seven points, five assists, three steals and a plus-6 rating. Against the Sky, she played a bench-high 25 minutes for 12 points (three treys), two assists, three steals and a whopping plus-19 rating. She was a legitimate driving force for getting Indiana two wins in that brief time span, and the Fever probably don't win those games without her.
Colson still has a clear role with Indiana in the locker room and on the court, but the team's roster construction with well-battled veterans has led to some early inconsistency. Players like Colson, forward DeWanna Bonner and forward Natasha Howard bring so much to the Fever in leadership and on-court savvy, but those players have all had moments of showing some age in the early season. The tempo isn't quite the same, understandably so since all of them are over the age of 33. McDonald changes that equation on the court.
The Fever's 2-0 record and overall quality of play with McDonald on the roster without Clark and guard Sophie Cunningham should be proof enough that she's earned a spot on the roster.
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Indiana being able to rotate Clark, Mitchell, Cunningham, McDonald and Lexie Hull as its top five guards for the rest of the season, while having Colson on the bench to step in as needed, could really help this Fever team establish itself. McDonald being able to run the Fever offense when Clark isn't on the court changes the entire dynamic of what Indiana can do for the rest of the year. The Fever could stand to somehow gain from the Clark-Cunningham injury absence in the long run by finding out what McDonald brings to the table.
The best plan for Indiana with its current salary cap situation would be to release forward/center Brianna Turner, a veteran who has seldomly played for the Fever this season, sign McDonald for the rest of the 2025 campaign and possibly bring Turner back later in July on a new deal if she's available. If Turner is able to find a team where she can get more playing time, this could be a total-win scenario for everyone involved.
If the Fever let McDonald go once Clark and Cunningham get back, they're not likely to get her back. The WNBA will notice how well McDonald has played in this two-game sample, and another team will swoop her up in no time. Just look at the Sky, who lost point guard Courtney Vandersloot to injury during Saturday's loss. Chicago would probably add McDonald in a heartbeat after she played so well against them.
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Also consider that Fever may not find a better backup point guard for Clark in the long haul without a trade, as McDonald is only 26 and still has plenty of room to grow. She could be a long-term solution for the franchise.
Things looked pretty grim for Indiana when Clark left the court with her injury, but McDonald's emergence with the Fever has given the team real momentum in a tough stretch. It would be organizational malpractice to let her go right now. Indiana would live to regret it by watching McDonald continue to thrive elsewhere.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: The Indiana Fever must find a way to keep Aari McDonald
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