The Indiana Fever are proving their 2025 campaign’s motto, “We are not here for the moment. We are here for the takeover” quite spot on so far. Three dominant preseason wins in the pocket with a roster which finally does not completely rely on their star trio Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston, and Kelsey Mitchell? The Fever is indeed rising! Of course, a lot of it has to do with the new HC Stephanie White as well, who in the off season, created a wall around Clark to aid in Indy’s goal of, as CC promised, “Championship!” But that’s also the origin of a conundrum that White will have to face as the league moves into the regular season.

The reason for preseason matchups includes testing team chemistry and architecting the roster and the rotations. White has tried some rotations so far but declared, “We’ll probably continue tinkering throughout the course of the week.” And the 13-player roster, so far it is confident, hungry, and certainly solves one of the biggest problems former HC Christie Sides faced last season – too much dependency on the rookie Clark – who led the team and was second in the league for 35.4 minutes played. But this time, she is taking it slow, at least for now. Dealing with quad tightness, she only put up a team-high 23 minutes (with Lexie Hull) against the Atlanta Dream. In fact, none of the starters played over 23 minutes. And yet, the bench showed up and showed out in the 81-76 win.

Clark did not even take the court in the very first preseason matchup against the Washington Mystics and the roster still came up with a 79-74 win. So, the roster is certainly set. But there’s the dilemma– the WNBA regular season can only have a maximum of 12 players on the roster. Adding to that is the fact that Indiana’s cap space will not allow them for more than 11 players. And now, HC Steph has a decision to make– not one but two cuts before they host the Chicago Sky on Saturday in the regular season opener. And before that can even happen, there’s another update that White will have to deal with.

According to Indy Star’s Chloe Peterson’s live game tweet thread, “Sophie Cunningham hopped off the floor, grimacing, just now and went immediately to the end of the bench to get looked at by the Fever’s trainers. She’s up now and trying to jog on the baseline, still limping slightly.”

She later posted another update on the guard, “Cunningham leaves for the locker room at the break. She was walking pretty quickly on her own, but a noticeable limp on her right leg.”

In Fever’s final preseason game, Sophie Cunningham entered as a starter for DeWanna Bonner for the first time for White. Since her entry in Indy, she has been the same defensive minded offensive force that she was for the Phoenix Mercury last season. And in the three preseason games, she has certainly proven her worth averaging a decent 10.7 points and 4.3 rebounds while being the turnover forcing machine on the hardwood. But under two minutes entering the third quarter, Sophie landed on Atlanta’s Rhyne Howard’s legs awkwardly, injuring her ankle.

She did not return to the game after limping into the tunnel. In her 15 mins of play as a starter, she put up 5 points, 2 rebounds, and an assist. While the extent of the injury has still not been determined, anything serious would be a blow for the Fever on an offensive surge. But Stephanie White isn’t sounding an alarm. “She keeps saying, ‘I’ll be fine.’ So I trust her,” the head coach said following the game.

Sophie has been on a tear since she arrived in Indiana, solidifying her spot with 21 points in their preseason opener. Her role has had people commending the Fever’s depth that wasn’t there last season. Rachel DeMita even questioned who’d be the first person off the bench when you have Cunningham playing like that alongside Sydney Colson, and now Lexie Hull.

However, what adds the load to White’s concern is the nearing deadline to finalize their roster. The 15th of May is fast approaching, the Fever need to make multiple cuts, and the players are proving just too good to decide among. “It’s always hard, I mean this is the worst part of the job,” White had said after letting go Bree Hall. But making it harder are the two players who relentlessly continue to try and earn a spot on the team – Makayla Timpson & Jaelyn Brown.

“She doesn’t try to force things, she allows the game to come to her. She plays with great pace as a young player and often times you’ll see young players playing too fast. She’s poised and ready when her name’s called,” said the head coach in the post-game presser when asked about the final roster spot. But just as she could end the praise for her draft pick, she was also reminded of Brown’s contribution.

“JB is dynamic. She’s athletic. She has a great ability to get downhill. She and Kelsey are really deadly in that mid-range. She’s a great rebounding guard. So it’s a tough job to have to compare those two,” White concluded.

The situation once again underscores the problems around roster building that teams seek to change through the new CBA. But what are the current league regulations that present these hurdles?

The problems of a 12-man roster

The WNBA’s salary cap, while designed to promote competitive balance, often presents a significant hurdle for teams aiming to field a full 12-player roster. Unlike many professional sports leagues, the WNBA’s cap is considerably lower, meaning teams only have a limited pool of money to distribute amongst their squad. This financial constraint forces GMs to make difficult choices, often stripping talents like Jaelyn and Makayla and Hall from an opportunity in the league.

The current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) mandates a minimum of 11 players in the roster and allows for a maximum of 12. However, signing a 12th player can mean stretching the already tight salary cap even further. Often, the money allocated for a potential 12th player is instead used to offer more competitive salaries to the top 8-10 players, securing key talent and depth. Quality over quantity, you could say.

By opting for an 11-player roster, teams gain more flexibility within the salary cap. This allows them to pay their star players closer to their market value and retain crucial contributors rather than allocating a smaller sum to a 12th player who might not be essential to the team’s rotations.

However, a change might be on the horizon with the new bargaining agreement set to be signed by the end of the year. It is expected to not just bring better salaries for the players but also soften the current salary cap of the league. The players, however, demand a roster expansion as well. This would further allow teams to retain players for their development, regardless of their contribution.

So while we await the new CBA, White will have some dreadful decisions to make.