ESPN has two big offseason questions for the Indiana Fever.

• What do this offseason and ultimately Year 3 hold for Clark?
• Can Clark leave her injury issues behind, and how quickly can she return to her dominant form in 2026?

No one needs to ask why these are the “biggest” questions. Yet, if there were any lingering doubts, an Insider has got things covered.

Heading into the 2025 season, Caitlin Clark was expected to be right in the MVP race and push the Indiana Fever into real championship territory. Instead, injuries kept her off the floor, and those lofty expectations never got the chance to unfold. Even without her, however, the Fever managed an incredible run, taking the Las Vegas Aces, the eventual champions, all the way to Game 5 in the semifinals. It was a proud, gritty finish to a season filled with setbacks. But let’s be honest, that kind of success isn’t sustainable without their superstar leading the charge.

In his latest podcast, insider Robin Lundberg said, “I do believe with a healthy Caitlin Clark, the Fever win the championship this year (2025 season). I can’t prove that. You can say whatever you want about me, obviously, but the way that they were playing in that stretch, even when she was a little limited when she came back. In one of those spurts, they had that game against the Dream and the Wings, and they were just putting points on the board. I’m not really sure how you stop them with CC, with Kelsey, with AB surrounded by better talent than they were when Clark was a rookie.” 

So, after falling just one win short of the Finals, Indiana needs to regroup. Last offseason was about building around Clark; this one has to be about keeping her healthy. She shouldn’t rush back to play anywhere (thankfully, she opted out of the Unrivaled after all those rumors) before the WNBA tips off again in May. She doesn’t need the extra league reps or paycheck. What she needs is time after playing only thirteen games this season and getting treated for four different injuries.

And, honestly, Fever has to prioritise every player’s health going foward. Injuries are part of sports, sure, but when half your rotation goes down, something’s off. Maybe it’s the tighter WNBA schedule. Maybe it’s the year-round grind players face with overlapping leagues. Either way, Indiana has to take a hard look at how it manages health, recovery, and workload.

GM Amber Cox is already confident in the team’s approach though.

“No one worked harder than Caitlin. Nobody wanted to be out on the court more than Caitlin,” Cox said. “I’m so looking forward to what next year is going to look like for her, because I think we’re going to see another level, which is unbelievable to even think about.”

“unbelievable”. That’s the word. For Clark, however, there is only one path to that.

“More than anything, my main focus is really just getting my body healthy, and once we get back to five-on-five, just being able to test my body and make sure it’s in a good spot,” Clark shared in her exit interview. “When you go through injuries, especially in my scenario, I think it’s important that you can become confident in your body again.”

The Fever is building a massive 108,000 sq ft performance center in downtown Indianapolis, complete with courts, training zones, yoga studios, and spa-style recovery spaces. The only downside? It won’t be ready until 2027. In the meantime, Indiana University and Pacers Sports & Entertainment have teamed up on a new program to study female athlete health and performance, aiming to close the gap in sports science that’s long been based on male data and finally create research built for women’s bodies.

As things stand, BetMGM’s sports book is giving the Indiana Fever the second-best odds to win the 2026 title (+375). But with the ongoing CBA negotiations shaking up the league, staying healthy might not be the only challenge Indiana has to navigate.

Can the Indiana Fever Reload Around Caitlin Clark?

Even before the 2025 season began, the WNBA’s future had been under a cloud. The reason? The impending CBA negotiations.

So, like the rest of the league, the Indiana Fever is facing an unprecedented situation where the majority of the roster might be replaced. To ease the situation a bit, the Fever does have two of their core pieces locked in (Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston). So, will the Indiana Fever be able to reload around them and build a competitive roster?

Well, one thing that works in the Indiana Fever’s advantage is that they can control the free agency of two of their most important players in Kelsey Mitchell and Lexie Hull. While Kelsey Mitchell is technically an unrestricted free agent, the Fever can designate her as a ‘core player’, which would give Indiana exclusive rights to negotiate the contract. Coming to Lexie Hull, she is a restricted free agent; therefore, the Indiana Fever will get the right to refuse in case Lexie signs an offer sheet with another team.

Coming to the rest of the free agents, the situation is wide open. Although most of them have spoken highly of their experience and love for the city, they have also said that they would consider all the offers. While that is a negotiation tactic, with a big spike expected to come in the salary cap, it may lead to a situation where the Indiana Fever are not in a position to bring all of them back.