You can divide the Indiana Fever’s 2025 season into three clear chapters, each telling a different story about the team’s growth and adaptation. The opening stretch saw Caitlin Clark at the helm, orchestrating the offense and shouldering the dual burden of scoring and playmaking. Then came a rocky middle chapter in the wake of Clark’s injury.
When they were without a proper point guard in form, the Fever looked directionless. Without her steady hand at the point, the offense lost structure and identity, and the team’s lack of cohesion became glaring. Everything changed in the third act. Enter Aari McDonald, the emergency signing who injected pace, grit, and a new sense of order. With McDonald running point, the Fever have found their rhythm with two consecutive wins. McDonald’s success has made this national reporter revisit a tactic for the Indiana Fever that was dismissed earlier in the season.
Rosalina Lee said on her YouTube Channel, “I’m telling you the idea of playing Caitlin Clark off-ball was not something that I was enjoying watching at all. I was campaigning to pull the plug from the Caitlin Clark off-ball experiment, but I think that with Aari McDonald, just because she’s no slouch like the Indiana Fever looked like a totally different team since Aari McDonald took over and started like, orchestrating for the team, so I am definitely willing to give a shot to the Caitlin Clark Off ball experiment.”
Coach Stephanie White has been trying to play Clark more off the ball, making her go on those runs with someone else providing the assists. The percentage of field goals from Caitlin has gone up from 2024, as Clark has 21.4% of her 2-pointers assisted this year, while she had just 14.2% last year. Clark is cutting more, working off screens, and finishing plays started by others, most likely Aliyah Boston. Boston and Clark were making quite the two-man team prior to the injury.
That was not quite working out as Fever fell apart against the New York Liberty and Atlanta Dream in the earlier part of the season. Even though they eked out a win in the return game against the Dream, Clark had a disappointing night with just 11 points and 5 assists while shooting 0-5 from the outside.
However, when shooting threes, she is taking them on her own, with 27.3% of her three-pointers assisted, down from 51.6% last year. She’s still taking a lot of threes off the dribble, often creating those looks herself in transition or late in the shot clock. White’s ultimate goal is to have a position-fluid system for which she had to try different combinations to see what works best. And Lee further said why McDonald could be a perfect fit for White to achieve that.
She said, “And the only reason I’m saying this is because Aari McDonald is a threat. She can score in the paint. she can score from outside of the arc. She’s just a really great passer. This is the type of thing I think that they were envisioning when thinking of playing Caitlin Clark off-ball because she mentioned wanting to play off-ball. this is something that she did do at Iowa. I just didn’t think that we had, you know, the talent for her to do this before and now I mean, honestly, keep Aari McDonald at all costs.”
McDonald’s signing could not have turned out better than it has, she has contributed 9.5 points, 3.5 assists and 3 steals per game while being instrumental in bringing physicality to their defense. While her passing is not Caitlin Clark level, it is good enough for Clark to alternate between scoring and assisting duties in a game.
“For us as coaches, it’s moving her off the ball a little bit more so she’s not getting worn out in-game.” Coach White had said. Her quad injury was probably because of an overload and “too much basketball,’ according to Clark, so moving her more off the ball takes some of the pressure off her.
She is usually the brain of the team while playing almost the entire game, which takes its toll. As evidenced by her recent injury, they need to form a system where Clark doesn’t have to be doing most of the work. And McDonald seems to be the answer to all their problems; she provides defensive cover, enough creativity and scoring to be the moon to Clark’s Sun. But can they possibly retain her following the return of Clark and Sophie Cunningham?
Can Aari McDonald be signed for the entire season?
The Indiana Fever qualified for signing a player on emergency after their roster was down to just 8 players at one point. Clark was ruled out for at least two weeks with a quad strain. Indiana then lost Sophie Cunningham and Sydney Colson to injury during the game against the Connecticut Sun. When a team falls under 10 available players, they are eligible for an emergency hardship exception, which allows them to sign a replacement player, which was McDonald.
May 6, 2025; San Francisco, CA, USA; Los Angeles Sparks guard Aari McDonald (15) during the first quarter against the Golden State Valkyries at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images
Since impressing since then, the fans are calling for her to stay throughout the season and even possibly next year but the team will have to terminate the emergency contract as soon as their non-replacement players are healthy. Colson is already back on the court and Cunningham is already participating in limited reps during practice. Let’s explore ways the Fever can get Aari for the entire season.
Teams can have a maximum of 12 players with a salary cap of $1,507,100 and currently only four teams have 11 players, including the Fever. So can they sign McDonald as the 12th player? Not Quite. To sign McDonald, the Fever also need cap space of around $50,000 and they currently only have $43,006.
Richard Cohen has given another option to which they can sign her, but it will be complicated and not immediate. After releasing Aari, the Fever will need to wait 10 days before offering her a full-season contract, even after cutting a player. Or, they can wait until later in the season when they have room to add a 12th player.
McDonald has to be released when Indy get back to 10 healthy main roster players. But could then be re-signed to a regular contract either by cutting someone (and waiting 10 days), or waiting until later in the season when they have room to add a 12th player.
— Richard Cohen (@RichardCohen1) June 4, 2025
Those 10 days give other teams with cap space the opportunity to sign McDonald because of her impressive showing. With many players leaving for the EuroBasket, many franchises will have an eye for McDonald when she is back on the market. The Golden State Valkyries, New York Liberty and Washington Mystics are teams with a significant amount of cap room, which could be potential destinations for Aari.
The Indiana Fever face crucial decisions in the days ahead, and keeping Aari McDonald for the full season will require careful roster and cap management. One thing is clear: McDonald embodies the spirit and style the Fever are building around, and the organization will do everything it can to ensure she remains a part of their future.
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