INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Fever are down to 12 standard contracts after making three moves on Wednesday. Just after noon, the team announced that they have waived three guards in Megan McConnell, Jessica Timmons and Kayana Traylor.
Those were the three expected cuts by the team during training camp. The other 13 players (12 on standard contracts and one on a developmental deal) seemed much more secure in their spot on the Fever’s roster, especially after Shatori Walker-Kimbrough had a productive preseason.
With Walker-Kimbrough — who also adds to the team as a veteran voice — in the fold, there was less of a need for additional guard depth on the roster. Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell, Raven Johnson, and Tyasha Harris also fill the Fever’s backcourt and will get most of the team’s minutes at the one and two positions during the season when the team is healthy.
That depth chart, particularly with Johnson’s terrific play during the preseason, made it simple for the Fever to waive the aforementioned trio. McConnell and Traylor both have one year of WNBA service while Timmons was a third-round draft pick by Indiana last month.
“I think they’re tough. They know how to play. They get the ball moving, they attack,” Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White said of her team’s reserve guards after their second preseason game. “They’re not afraid of the moment. In practice every day, they’ve been battling. They’re making it really tough.”
The Fever had to make three waivers to get their roster down to the right size for the regular season, though. And they made those moves official today. White added more later when asked what attributes would be important when it came to roster/waiver decisions.
“We’ve got to have somebody that can be a playmaker for us, probably be a combo guard for us,” the head coach said. “When we think about being able to have consistent minutes throughout the course of our regular rotation players, and then in the case of injury, you want to have a player that can come in and make an impact in that realm.”
The Indiana Fever now turn to finalizing their team before the regular season begins for them on Saturday. With 12 players, any standard contract signing or waiver claim would require another release. In the absence of such a move, the dozen players that will be on the team’s opening night roster would be set.
The developmental contracts provide more intrigue. Only second-round pick Justine Pissott is currently signed to one with Indiana, and each team can have two players on such deals. So the Fever still have one spot on the team to fill before opening night.
Other franchises scooped up players waived by other teams using the developmental contracts slots — Marta Suarez and Ashlon Jackson were waived by Golden State before ending up in Phoenix and in Connecticut, respectively, on the new type of contract. So the Fever could look at the waiver wire and choose to sign an available player to a developmental deal. Anyone with three or fewer years of service is eligible for that type of deal.
That said, the three players waived by Indiana on Wednesday would be natural candidates to re-up with the team on a developmental deal. Only one of the three can, but their familiarity with the team from training camp is valuable, and both Timmons and Traylor fit the combo guard description White provided.
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Timmons can really score and had her best preseason outing against the New York Liberty, scoring 10 points on 4-6 shooting. Traylor had an excellent second half in a game against the Dallas Wings and finished with eight points behind a 3-5 night from the field. McConnell missed all of her field goal attempts during the preseason but added seven assists and four steals in three games.
White likes what the developmental spots are for teams, and how they enhance the WNBA in general. “I think the developmental contracts are important because we continue to expand in our league, and making sure that we have players that are ready number one,” White said. “But number two, the opportunity through the developmental contracts that if we have situations like we had last year, that we can call players up. We can have them ready to go, and they’ve been in the system. And we’re not starting from square one [as a team].”
White added that the contracts are good for the players to develop their basketball IQ and teammate intangibles, something that isn’t possible when only working on individual skills as a free agent. An open developmental spot is currently the final piece of the 2026 Fever puzzle, and if they want to keep one on their waived players they’ll have to wait until they clear waivers on Friday.
Then, it’s go time for the regular season.
