It feels like seasons ago since the 2019 campaign when the Indiana Fever arrived only two games shy of the WNBA playoffs, losing out on the eighth playoff berth that season to the Minnesota Lynx.
That was, of course, the last season of Pokey Chatman’s coaching tenure with the Fever – and, as of now, her last coaching stint within the WNBA.
It feels like decades ago when the 2016 season occurred – when Tamika Catchings put away her players’ jersey for good and transitioned into retirement.
Catchings retired as one of the greatest players in WNBA history – and was rewarded with an official honor by being named one of the W’s 25 greatest players last season.
It feels like eons ago when the Fever hit championship paydirt in 2012. Indiana was successful that season in winning that season’s WNBA championship following a 3-1 series victory over those same Lynx.
Catchings was successful in delivering a WNBA championship to a state that cares passionately about its hoops.
But the glory years of 2012, the memories of 2016 and the promise of 2019 appear to have given way to a present marker in Fever history where the franchise has a lot of questions but so few answers.
Case in point with this week – when the Fever waived Kysre Gondrezick during the portion of the free agency period where teams can be in the midst of negotiations with players.
Gondrezick was the fourth overall pick – a lottery selection out of West Virginia – and a head scratcher of a selection with players such as Rennia Davis (Minnesota Lynx), Dana Evans (Chicago Sky), DiJonai Carrington (Connecticut Sun), Arella Guirantes (Los Angeles Sparks), DiDi Richards (New York Liberty) and eventual Rookie of the Year Michaela Onyenwere (New York Liberty) still on the draft board.
The 2021 season was not exactly a banner season for Gondrezick. She did not get that much playing time and received flack from some fans for seemingly putting more emphasis on potentially being more social media influencer than basketball player. Gondrezick later revealed that she had taken time for herself to tend to her mental health and also was grieving after the loss of her father.
The Fever’s jettisoning of one lottery pick comes on the heels of Indiana doing the same to its 2020 lottery pick in Lauren Cox out of Baylor. Cox battled Covid issues in 2020 and played 14 of the 22 Fever games in the bubble. She averaged 3.3 points per game that season.
Cox also played 11 more games with the Fever last season before she went to the Sparks where she played in 15 contests.
The Fever’s habit of jettisoning lottery picks has to make one question what is either going on within Indiana’s scouting department or its front office in general. Apparently, the Fever are not landing the players they need to land in the draft or they would not be so quick to send them packing. In addition, some of the decisions Catchings has made since becoming general manager have to come under question.
After all, this is the same Fever franchise that allowed veteran players like Erica Wheeler (who won MVP of the 2019 All-Star Game) walk to the Sparks and Natalie Achonwa walk to the Lynx.
Indiana also allowed another noteworthy WNBA player to leave the Hoosier State for another team as well. That notable is Betnijah Laney, who joined the Atlanta Dream in the 2020 season in the bubble and won Most Improved Player honors in 2020.
Laney already had a modeling portfolio which included work with Chicago-based Model Atelier when she was with the Sky. She has since blossomed into a model WNBA player as she proved last season with the Liberty that her bubble campaign was no fluke. After averaging 17.2 points per game with the Dream, she almost eclipsed that in 2021 by averaging 16.8 points per game plus over five assists per contest en route to her first All-Star appearance. Laney was an integral piece in leading New York to its first playoff berth since 2017 – the Lib’s last season at Madison Square Garden.
Indiana allowed Laney to walk not knowing she was on the verge of becoming a superstar in this league and thriving in two of the WNBA’s most glamorous of markets. On top of how Laney has thrived with other teams, the Fever also have to be thinking about how, earlier this month, Julie Allemand announced that she would be taking a step back from ball to address her mental health ala Gondrezick.
In addition, while the Fever parted ways with Gondrezick, Marianne Stanley, who has won a grand total of 12 games between the last two seasons, is still at her post as head coach. The Liberty won 12 total games last season alone and New York let its former coach, Walt Hopkins, go, allowing former Phoenix Mercury coach Sandy Brondello take over in Hopkins’ stead.
The Fever’s lottery luck has not been a lady, but more like a cruel mother you-know-what as well. Since Catchings retired, Indiana has yet to have a first overall pick despite multiple occasions in the lottery. This past draft lottery was a haunting reminder of how the Fever cannot manifest the ping pong balls being on its side.
Despite having the worst record in the WNBA, Indiana had to settle for the No. 2 pick in the 2022 draft as the Washington Mystics claimed the first overall pick. Lines.com has Rhyne Howard out of Kentucky going first to the ‘Stics and NaLyssa Smith of Baylor going second overall to Indiana. One has to wonder what has to be on the minds of prospective Fever draftees after Indiana has had no problems parting ways with its past two lottery picks after one season each.
In fairness to the Indiana front office, it and other general managers last season showed no respect to the 2021 draft class. The fact that the Liberty won the draft lottery, then the No. 1 overall pick (which ended up being Charli Collier to the Dallas Wings) was traded twice in the same day was a microcosm of how weak WNBA GMs perceived last season’s draft class to be. Upcoming drafts are projected to be much stronger with talents such as Rhyne Howard, Aliyah Boston, Zia Cooke and, of course, Paige Bueckers becoming available as part of future draft classes.
The salary cap picture also has to be something weighing on the minds of the Fever front office. Indiana is not exactly in the cap purgatory the way the Dallas Wings ($78,146), Los Angeles Sparks ($157,417), New York Liberty ($196,560) and Phoenix Mercury ($317,065) are, but they are not playing with a ton of cap space the way the Atlanta Dream ($1,040,912), Seattle Storm ($986,236), Chicago Sky ($908,215) and Las Vegas Aces ($724,968) are. The Fever are currently working with $370,620 in cap space (all numbers per Her Hoop Stats). Only the Mercury, Liberty, Sparks and Wings have less.
One has to begin second-guessing the judgment of Catchings as well as the team’s general manager. There is no question that her legacy as an all-time great player has been set. And while it may have been a great public relations move for Pacers Sports and Entertainment to name her as the Fever’s general manager, it has not been exactly been all that impressive. Is it safe to say that Catchings could go in the list of all-time great players that did not exactly excel as executives?
One has to wonder. One does not have to wonder about this – when the Fever are good, it is good for the state of Indiana because that is a state that is as passionate about basketball as any state in the country. As of today, the Fever are cellar-dwellers and getting rid of lottery picks after one season (and change in the case of Cox) is not exactly how a team should be going about a rebuild and a gross indictment on the team’s scouting efforts.
Not that those scouting efforts have always been bad, of course. The Fever have managed to draft top-tier talents such as Victoria Vivians, Tiffany Mitchell, Kelsey Mitchell and Teaira McCowan to sport Indiana gold, blue and red. Part of the problem with the Fever has been injuries. Another element has simply been an inability of the Fever to truly gel.
But those are only part of the problem. When a team has been losing as much as the Fever have and has made questionable personnel decisions as the Fever have, that suggests a house cleaning may need to be done with that entire organization and Catchings may not be immune to such moves.
Fixing the Fever will clearly be a multi-season job, but if Indiana changes it philosophy regarding its rebuild, it could the Fever back on the right, should we say, pace.
