Not a fan of this.
Smith needed to go but Cunningham stinks and has off the court baggage that Caitlin doesn’t need.
I think they should have kept Smith and the pick for now and tried to fond a better trade.
***Official Caitlin/Fever/Kate/Meg Games Mega Thread***
- Thread starter Tenacious E
- Start date
Not a fan of this.
Smith needed to go but Cunningham stinks and has off the court baggage that Caitlin doesn’t need.
I think they should have kept Smith and the pick for now and tried to fond a better trade.
We gave up the 8th pick for Cunningham? Isn’t she basically hull? Do we need 2 of them?
Bummer giving up 8th pick but Cunningham is good and plays hard. Funny she was recruiting Clark to come to Phoenix at All-Star game court-side during the game. Well….little different outcome but it kind of worked out for her lol. Hull and Cunningham will drive single male ticket sales for sure.
"I feel like now - I'm at Lady Vols games and I'm just like--- y'all just don't know what Carver Hawkeye looks like tonight..... Carver hawkeye Arena with Caitlin Clark in it-- that's like kryptonite in a bottle. It's something special"
Camille Gear spent 2+ year covering Caitlin Clark and now is back at her alma mater covering Tennessee in Knoxville.
check this out & watch:
Camille Gear spent 2+ year covering Caitlin Clark and now is back at her alma mater covering Tennessee in Knoxville.
check this out & watch:
If they get brink they would have the three hot presumably straight blondes with the W.
Last edited:
Not trying to derail the thread, but Cunningham is very outspoken politically and it has caused some issues with teammates in the past.
I just think it's setting Caitlin and the rest of the Fever up to be asked about if they agree with Cunningham's statements and beliefs.
I don’t think this trade gets made without clearing it with Caitlin first.
This is what I have read also. Her particular political persuasion is not the typical one for the WNBA and one of the team stars called her out publicly for it.
Have to give the Phoenix GM an A+ for basically getting Sabally for Cunningham straight up. Phoenix on paper looks pretty damn good right now..
Sabally mentioned it as well - they must not have liked playing at a college arena. Rumor is that Paige might threaten to go back to uconn for another year unless dallas trades the #1 pick.
Not weird on that but weird that she prioritized the choicest facilities over quality of teammates and coaching.
Smith HAD to go and the other teams knew that. It limited the Fever’s ability to get a better deal. Howard for Smith is a great upgrade. Sophie can relieve Lexie and Kelsey. Berger will relieve CC 5 minutes or so a game. The Fever now have 11 players under contract. I think a big girl from Europe will be signed soon as that is all the team needs, someone to relieve Boston and Howard as Boston needs breathers and can be foul prone. This will be a fun, winning team that gets along well and coached well. Just need to get one more big girl. We don’t need a draft pick this year.
Last edited:
Just heard a podcast about Cunningham on a really team friendly deal and that the Fever have another max contract available ….maybe something interesting on its way…..
Looks like Sophie is on a 1 year 100k contract. That works well as it gives her an opportunity to prove herself and she’s only getting paid backup money to play backup minutes. Or possibly steal the SF starting spot from Hull if she’s good enough.
I think she’ll fit in with the high speed offense and feast off of assists from Clark. Maybe they overpaid, but they had to ditch Smith and that was a byproduct of that.
Indy still has a lot of cap space available for free agency to look for a high end backup big to fill out the roster.
Looks like the roster currently is:
PG Clark/Berger
SG Mitchell/Cunningham
SF Hull/Cunningham/KLS
PF Howard/Dantas
C Boston/Dantas
Deep bench Saxton/Wallace
Room for one more, and it needs to be a big. Unless Saxton comes out of nowhere and performs, which I doubt since she hasn’t even crossed over 100 career minutes of playing time in two total seasons.
I think she’ll fit in with the high speed offense and feast off of assists from Clark. Maybe they overpaid, but they had to ditch Smith and that was a byproduct of that.
Indy still has a lot of cap space available for free agency to look for a high end backup big to fill out the roster.
Looks like the roster currently is:
PG Clark/Berger
SG Mitchell/Cunningham
SF Hull/Cunningham/KLS
PF Howard/Dantas
C Boston/Dantas
Deep bench Saxton/Wallace
Room for one more, and it needs to be a big. Unless Saxton comes out of nowhere and performs, which I doubt since she hasn’t even crossed over 100 career minutes of playing time in two total seasons.
Her contract was up & they are not going to re-sign her
An article I read said the trade showed just how little the W thinks of smith. The trade was almost all about the 8th pick, and someone taking her off the fever’s books.
I don't really know a whole lot about Cunningham other than she is a smoke show and was hammered at one of CC22's game (WNBA ALL-Star?). One thing I advocated for was a Smith and their 8th for Sabally. I'm guessing once they signed Howard and Sabally went to PHO, they weren't as concerned about that position and dumped Smith.
Something else I hadn’t considered is that they likely are not done and have one more free agent to nab. They couldn’t do it keeping the 8th pick from a salary cap perspective, and their focus is winning now while Caitlin and AB are on rookie contracts. I’m not sure who this vet would be. Tina Charles or Bonner? Also it was suggested Cunningham was brought in with Howard to be enforcers and to stop any shenanigans roughing up Caitlin.
Here’s the Free Agent list.
In my opinion, they have to go after a veteran big that can provide depth. The two names you mentioned are possibilities.
Another one that hasn’t been mentioned is Elena Delle Donne, who sat out this past season. I wonder if she’d want to take one more crack at a run for a championship with a team loaded with young talent needing a veteran presence. Not a traditional big, but at 6’5” and with a great shooting %, she could be a floor stretching PF that would work nicely as a change of pace from Howard. And create a great 4 out, 1 in lineup that would be bonkers to try to defend. At her age she would only be needed for maybe 15-20 minutes per game which should help keep her healthy.
If I’m the Fever, my phone is working overtime trying to make that happen until all efforts have been exhausted.
Here’s more info on the Salary cap. Which is $1,501,100 for this season.
herhoopstats.com
Swapping Smith for Sophie moves their contracted cap to
$857,480
They signed Mitchell for a supermax at $249,244.
Howard is coming in at probably close to a max contract of $214,466
That would put them at a max of $1,321,190
Meaning the minimum space available is $179,910. Possibly more if Howard doesn’t get a max contract.
That’s a good amount to offer a veteran backup. And it goes to show that KLS’s horrible contract killed their ability to offer another max.
Indiana Fever WNBA Salary Cap Sheet
Indiana Fever Salary Cap Sheet and Key WNBA CBA Info from Her Hoop Stats
Swapping Smith for Sophie moves their contracted cap to
$857,480
They signed Mitchell for a supermax at $249,244.
Howard is coming in at probably close to a max contract of $214,466
That would put them at a max of $1,321,190
Meaning the minimum space available is $179,910. Possibly more if Howard doesn’t get a max contract.
That’s a good amount to offer a veteran backup. And it goes to show that KLS’s horrible contract killed their ability to offer another max.
It is also possible they find a way to dissolve a contract or two and only carry 11 players on the roster.Here’s more info on the Salary cap. Which is $1,501,100 for this season.
Indiana Fever WNBA Salary Cap Sheet
Indiana Fever Salary Cap Sheet and Key WNBA CBA Info from Her Hoop Stats
Swapping Smith for Sophie moves their contracted cap to
$857,480
They signed Mitchell for a supermax at $249,244.
Howard is coming in at probably close to a max contract of $214,466
That would put them at a max of $1,321,190
Meaning the minimum space available is $179,910. Possibly more if Howard doesn’t get a max contract.
That’s a good amount to offer a veteran backup. And it goes to show that KLS’s horrible contract killed their ability to offer another max.
Players who are cut still count against the cap. Retirement is the only way to truly “dissolve” a contract and clear cap space. Otherwise you’ve got to trade players.
I doubt Saxton retires as she’s earning easy money and is still young.
Maybe Wallace decides to leave the WNBA and go back home, but she’s only 29.
You want Dantas to stay as she’s a good backup, that provides value.
And KLS is trying to resurrect her career in Unrivaled and is only 27, so she won’t be retiring.
The one hope is maybe KLS’s showing in Unrivaled drives up her value in the trade market.
She is too injury prone in my opinion. I think she is hurt again recently. Also, very slow.
I thought players and teams could mutually agree to dissolve the contract and it then evaporates. So if Wallace is told you are the last person on the bench, and there is no trade partner they could agree to dissolve it and then she could sign somewhere else on a new contract.
I was just thinking about what they don’t have and that is a horse in the paint.
I think the President of the Fever, Kelli K. was recently in Europe for a reason and I don't think it was a vacation. I'd be shocked if a European player didn't sign with the Fever.
I don't think the Fever want any plow horses. IMO, I think they're after thoroughbred's that can run with Secretariat.
To some degree, the Fever must think that Cunningham is a better option than who will be available at #8
But that is only part of the story. I heard a podster say that the Fever have room for one more max player and have something in mind.
This also seems to imply that Indy was willing to offer Smith and #8 to Dallas, but Sabally did not want to go to Indy.
I’m not saying as a staple, but for when the moment calls for it. Like against griner and jonquell jones. Then again, maybe they believe they will run most bigs off the court and make other teams play small ball.
I think it will be the other way around. Cunningham is better IMO
40 posts and none of you morans can get a pic?
