All right, we got to get into this, man. Former NBA player, Fab Five member of the Michigan Wolverines, a legend in the culture. Jaylen Rose came out and had some comments about Caitlyn Clark. It’s making a lot of waves online. We got to get into what he had to say.
We got to get into this Sophie Cunningham Indiana Fever situation and the questions about if she’ll be back at all. We have to get into all of this. Welcome to Keep the Vision.
So Jaylen Rose had a little private interview or a quick interview where he discussed Caitlyn Clark and her level of greatness and things like that. Let’s take a look at what he had to say because a lot of people are talking about this and I think he said some keen and interesting things.
Let’s take a listen. One of the incredible things that comes with being an athlete is perseverance. And that’s why I encourage all young people to participate in sports because it teaches you how to overcome turbulence, but also deal with success and failure and criticism and overcoming injury.
And I just want to applaud Lily for 150 years of trying to make sure we’re healthy, but also an athlete like Caitlyn, for example, who’s not only a terrific player, but she’s also been a great ambassador just for the game and somebody that went to Michigan. When you look at those old highlights of her shooting from the logo, that was the Michigan logo she was shooting on.
So, I was very familiar with her and her game for a really long time and how she battled back from her injury. Same with Darren Peterson. He was in and out of a couple of games this year and the ability for an athlete to make those sacrifices and have that discipline to overcome whatever injury aches and pains that they have and still perform is incredible.
Hey man, shout out to Jaylen Rose. Look, he’s been recognizing the greatness of Caitlyn Clark. He witnessed it. She was pulling up from the Michigan logo. She was pulling up from deep. She went through a tumultuous season with the injuries.
Let’s be real, the girl has been nothing but targeted her first two years in the league. She got everybody paid and people are acting like it’s because of other reasons, all types of nonsense. Caitlyn Clark has done nothing short of saving this league, putting this league on her back. We saw the ratings drop by more than 50% without her.
She went through a hellacious year with the injuries being targeted, coaching debacles, putting her at small forward, got the center bringing the ball up the court, teammates taking off-season deals, running off on the bag, secret handshake deals with Stephanie White, the whole Dana Bonner situation, Natasha Howard wants to win MVP. We got Brie Turner and her act.
It was a lot. She has prevailed and she is back better than ever and ready to go on a run for the WNBA MVP. Make no mistake about that. Shout out to Jaylen Rose recognizing the greatness of Caitlyn Clark.
Now, we have to get into some Sophie Cunningham news and situations because the expansion draft went down and Sophie Cunningham was not taken in the expansion draft. She will be hitting the market as an unrestricted free agent.
Now ultimately there are a lot of things at play. What is going to happen with Kelsey Mitchell? Will she be willing to accept a core deal for a max contract or will she be like, “I’m getting offered a multi-year max contract elsewhere. I need to leave and get paid.” That is a major domino in this situation.
Along with Lexi Hall, 80% of the league is free agents. It’s going to be a lot of movement going on. But this Sophie Cunningham situation is also major because she was one of the few people we saw actually bite down and take action.
She wasn’t going for the nonsense. She was willing to fight. She was willing to brawl. She didn’t care. She stood up for Caitlyn Clark and we loved her for it and treated her as royalty because of such.
Now, let’s get into this article here courtesy of Sports Illustrated and Robin Lumber. It says Sophie Cunningham remains key question for Fever after WNBA expansion draft.
The Indiana Fever still have a decision to make on Sophie Cunningham following the WNBA expansion draft. Sophie Cunningham won’t be headed to the Toronto Tempo or Portland Fire via the WNBA expansion draft which means the Indiana Fever still face a looming decision about her future.
It was always unlikely Cunningham would be taken by either new franchise given each could only take one unrestricted free agent who they would then in turn be able to offer a supermax deal to. While Cunningham is a versatile contributor and a draw off the court, she isn’t quite on that tier as an individual player.
I agree with this. I think Sophie Cunningham is an awesome role player, but she’s not in the upper echelon, top tier of this league to where she should be drawing a max or near max. I don’t think she should be anywhere near a max.
But she is a quality piece that I think any team would love and specifically Caitlyn Clark and the Indiana Fever should be trying to do whatever they can to get her back.
It says Fever fans were curious whether she would make the list of five players the team was able to protect just to ensure there was no risk of losing her outside shooting and enforcer role.
Though the list of players protected was not revealed, it’s reasonable to surmise that Cunningham could have been left off. Given Michaela Timson was not selected, Timson is on a rookie deal and has upside to develop. Since she is not a free agent, she likely would have been taken if available.
What happens with Cunningham now? If the Indiana Fever did indeed leave Cunningham unprotected, that doesn’t mean they don’t value her. It would have simply been a calculated risk that she wouldn’t be poached.
However, the catch is she’s a free agent either way, so her future with the squad is not cemented. The question of whether she returns to the Indiana Fever now likely becomes a monetary one.
It is apparent the team’s first priority is bringing back Kelsey Mitchell, who will command a supermax salary. Aaliyah Boston is now max eligible thanks to the new CBA and Caitlyn Clark’s rookie scale salary increases significantly before she becomes max eligible herself next year.
Meaning the salary cap room around the Fever’s foundational trio is shrinking. Lexi Hall is also a free agent but a restricted one, so it stands to reason Indiana will take advantage of the opportunity to match any offer she receives.
At that point, Cunningham’s place on the roster likely comes down to what kind of raise Indiana can give her versus what she might garner on the open market.
But there are other factors at play as well. Cunningham brings three-point shooting and toughness to the floor, but her star power has also risen playing alongside Clark.
Given she fits in basketball-wise and the increased attention in Indiana, one would think she is inclined to stay if things are anywhere close to equal. I agree with that.
I’m not someone that’s going to say Sophie Cunningham should take a pay cut, but if it’s within the same ballpark, I wouldn’t blame her taking a pay cut at all.
Bottom line, whether Cunningham will suit up for the Fever will be revealed soon as all WNBA offseason business needs to be conducted quickly with just a few weeks before training camp.
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