Caitlin Clark, during her recent appearance on NBC, confirmed that signing Kelsey Mitchell back was one of the top priorities of the Fever ahead of the 2026 season. This statement came as a relief to fans who were concerned about Mitchell's future with the Fever as she enters free agency.

While the retention of the All-WNBA trio, dubbed the 'Big 3,' seems like a season-winning move on paper, a WNBA analyst has pointed out the financial pressure the Fever would eventually be under if they went ahead with it.

Commenting on the statement made by Caitlin Clark, Rachel DeMita said, "A lot of Fever fans have been worried if the Big 3 will be able to return to the Fever because of the new WNBA and how the salary structure is. Each team can only have two max or super max contract players. So that becomes difficult when you have these three on the team."

She continued, "However, for this year, Caitlin Clark is still on her rookie deal. She's not eligible for a max contract until next year. So the Indiana Fever can put Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell on max contracts, which gives them at least one more year to try to run it back with these three. And assuming that all three of them are healthy and they're able to get some good free agents in the offseason, then this is going to be a very scary team."

Kelsey Mitchell is one of seven Fever players who will be an unrestricted free agent.

The 30-year-old is probably the most poised to receive the $1.4 million supermax contract, while Aliyah Boston will be eligible for a $1.19 million max contract under the new CBA deal.

That being said, the Fever would eventually be in a financially tricky situation if it opted to hold on to the Big 3.

Retaining Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston, and Kelsey Mitchell could land Indiana in a Stars and Scrubs Situation

Although the new CBA allows the Fever to retain Mitchell and compensate her as per the new CBA deal, while also meeting Boston's price tag, Caitlin Clark's upcoming max contract eligibility could mean a severe financial drain for the franchise.

Clark is eligible for a projected $1.3 million max contract in 2027, and accommodating her with Boston and Mitchell would force the team to allocate 65-70% of the salary cap to just these three max-eligible stars.

It would also land Fever in a Stars and Scrubs situation.

To the uninformed, a Stars and Scrubs situation is a roster construction and lineup-building strategy where a team invests the majority of its budget into acquiring two or three high-priced "star" players while filling the rest of the roster with low-cost, low-salary "scrub" players.

This approach banks on elite players to score massive points, while relying on the low-cost players to provide just enough value to stay competitive.

Popular in fantasy sports, the move sacrifices consistency for the chance to win with a massive point total.

However, the strategy is high-risk and volatile; if a star player has an off-night, sits out due to injury, or plays in a blowout, the lineup often fails because the "scrubs" cannot generate enough points to compensate.

Do you think the Fever will hold on to the Big 3? Let us know!

Written by

Joy Bassy

Edited by

Arvind Rao