All right, major major Indiana Fever news as it appears Kelsey Mitchell has been cred and they are looking to retain the rights of Lexi Hall. The Indiana Fever potentially running it back for now. Welcome to Keep the Vision. That would be greatly appreciated. Let’s get right into things.
So, another major domino that we were waiting for was the Kelsey Mitchell decision. Now, this does not finalize things. But this is a domino that we were waiting to hear here on Underdog WNBA. Kelsey Mitchell has received a core qualifying offer from the Indiana Fever.
And I don’t think this comes to a surprise of anyone, anyone with a brain, but I think people may have wanted otherwise because I think a lot of us just want to see Caitlin Clark play her game. We have questions with the Kelsey Mitchell Stephanie White combination. You get what I’m saying? So, them cing her comes to no surprise. Pretty much par for the course. This is courtesy of Khloe Peterson.
The Indiana Fever have, as expected, sent out a core qualifying offer to Kelsey Mitchell and restricted qualifying offer to Lexi Hall. So, they’ll be looking to match any offer Lexi Hall receives. It says it officially gives Mitchell a supermax in exchange for exclusive negotiating rights and makes Hull a restricted free agent.
So, this is at for now. All this means is the Indiana Fever won’t lose Kelsey Mitchell for absolutely nothing. There is still a negotiating period that has to go down between the two parties. Kelsey Mitchell could still come out and say, “Hey, I don’t want to play on a one-year core. I want a multi-year contract, and if you guys don’t want to give it, then I want to look for it elsewhere.” They can move me elsewhere. Move me to where I can get a multi-year commitment on a supermax contract. If you guys don’t want to do it, let’s get that done.
So, there’s still a negotiating period. This needed to happen first, and now there will be that negotiating period, and we’ll see what they come up with. Ultimately, I believe that Kelsey Mitchell will play on this one-year deal. I don’t think it’s smart. I think she should look for a multi-year deal, and I don’t think the Indiana Fever could give it to her.
So, that’s where my head is on it. I think, business-wise, Kelsey Mitchell should be looking for a multi-year. You never know what could happen. ACLs, Achilles, we watched her body shut down last season. I think she should be looking for that long-term security. I just don’t think the Fever can get it to her, and I think that she will play on this one-year deal, but that is to be seen.
So, while the core is a big thing, it is not the end all be all. There is still much more that needs to be sorted out between Kelsey Mitchell and the Indiana Fever. Ultimately, we’ll see what direction they choose to go in with her.
Lexi Hall, they made her a restricted free agent. So, her agent is free to go out there, scour the market, see what’s out there. Do you got 700? You got 750? You got 850? You got 900? Where’s the biggest offers? Get that offer and then the Indiana Fever have the option to match that. Hopefully they don’t get too crazy out there. Let’s not get crazy. I believe Lexi Hall wants to stay in Indiana.
But there may be some really quality offers out there that the Fever are going to have to figure out a way to match, and I think Sophie Cunningham will fall in line after the Lexi Hall situation is sorted out.
Also, in other team news, Ariel Atkins has received a core qualifying offer from the Chicago Sky. Marina Johannis, the Liberty are looking to keep her. They did a qualifying offer for her. So teams are starting to do what they can to protect the assets that they have some control over, whether it’s making them a restricted free agent, cing them, whatever it is. Teams are looking to now exercise protecting some of the assets that they can control.
Here it says courtesy of Sports Illustrated Grant Young, Indiana Fever make first moves in WNBA free agency. The Indiana Fever have started the process of bringing several key players back to the team in 2026. With the 2026 WNBA expansion draft now in the rearview mirror, the focus becomes on free agency.
This is going to be a particularly interesting one for Indiana Fever fans to follow given that several of the team’s longest tenured players could have been playing for new teams if the front office didn’t feel like it made sense to bring them back. Superstar guard Kelsey Mitchell has spent her entire WNBA career in Indiana. Ultimately, I think that is going to play a part. It’s kind of like heart over brains. The smartest thing is to get long-term security, but her heart might keep her in Indiana on a one-year core.
After being the number two pick in the 2018 draft, she has cemented herself as one of the league’s top stars. The Fever had the opportunity to extend a core qualifying offer to Mitchell this winter, which would mean she would remain with the team through at least the 2026 season. Everybody associated with the Fever have been very clear about how important Mitchell is to their team success, and offering Mitchell this core qualifying offer seemed like one of the most obvious decisions the team could make. It only felt like a matter of time before the news of this offer was extended.
So, I don’t think people should be shocked or surprised at this. This was always going to be the move. This was going to be the move to get her under the core and then start negotiating and figure out what’s what. Because you don’t want to lose a Kelsey Mitchell for absolutely nothing. That makes no sense.
The next decision Indiana’s front office had to make was regarding Lexi Hall, whom the team took with the number six pick in the 2026 draft. Hall was poised to become a restricted free agent this offseason, giving the Fever the right to match any offer she receives, and I believe they will match it.
It’s six Lexi Halls out there. She’s the Energizer Bunny, and she’s one of the main glue pieces of this team. It says it appears things are moving in the right direction for bringing both Mitchell and Hall back. Indiana sports reporter Tony East revealed the Fever have extended a core qualifying offer to star guard Kelsey Mitchell and restricted qualifying offer to forward Lexi Hall.
It says he followed that up while he isn’t certain about this new CBA. The belief is that the core qualifying offer to Mitchell is a one-year supermax contract which could theoretically be negotiated to something else from both sides. So that is what the core is, a one-year supermax.
But things can be negotiated from both sides. If she doesn’t want to do this one-year thing, she can voice that and negotiate. “Hey, I want to be moved.” Whatever it is, they can negotiate. “Hey, we’ll give you a multi-year deal, but not under a max. Let’s figure out a number that works.” Negotiation still has to happen.
Hall’s restricted qualifying offer means that while she can negotiate with other teams in free agency, the Fever can match any offer another team gives her, which would then force her to return to Indiana.
In other words, the news essentially guarantees Hall and Mitchell will be back with the Fever in 2026, which should be great news for everybody involved with the franchise.
All right, so that’s where we stand for now. There’s still some negotiating and things to take place, but I believe Kelsey Mitchell will be back on this one-year supermax. Get down in the comments. Let me know what you guys think.
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