“You are the consummate professional. We love you. We appreciate you. You were huge.” Stephanie White said of Brianna Turner in August. Despite starting zero games for the Fever, even with all their injury woes, Turner remained a consummate professional throughout the season. But with her contract expired at the end of the season, there are currently no indications that the Fever would re-sign Turner. According to a recent update, however, Turner has just received a lifeline to continue her career…abroad.

A few hours ago, it was announced that Brianna Turner will be signing with the Perth Lynx, a franchise belonging to the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL), for the 2025-26 season. The power forward has reportedly been signed as a replacement for Han Xu, as the latter remains unavailable for a period of time due to national commitments.

Brianna Turner highlighted this update on her official Instagram story. She showed her excitement through a separate statement by saying, “I’m really looking forward to joining the Perth Lynx and competing in the WNBL once again. It’s a great opportunity to contribute to a strong team and experience basketball in a new environment. I’m ready to get to work and help the team start the season strong.”

This isn’t the first time that Caitlin Clark’s former teammate will be playing for the Australian Women’s basketball league. In fact, she had represented the Adelaide Lightning for three seasons, the first of which was in 2019/20. She returned down under for a second spell between 2023-25. While she struggled to get a look-in in the WNBA this season, she has been one of the stars of Australian basketball. Although the exact stats aren’t publicly available, her defensive game has drawn huge admirers, and she was even named as a finalist for the Robyn Maher Defensive Player of the Year award in her past two seasons in the WNBL.

Since a WNBL season runs from October to mid to late February, Turner’s tenure with the Perth Lynx won’t clash with her WNBA commitments. But the question is, ‘will’ she return to the W?

Will Brianna Turner Return to the Indiana Fever?

Brianna Turner’s contract with the Indiana Fever was only for one year. This means that the player will be an unrestricted free agent in 2026. In the last 3 years, Turner has been with 3 different WNBA teams. Therefore, there is no guarantee that she will be wearing a Fever jersey next year, or any official WNBA jersey at all! During a past presser, Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White had stated her desire to “get a lot of the players back”.

As of this moment, the Indiana Fever only has 3 players signed on for the next season. Caitlin Clark, of course, is on the list, along with Aliyah Boston and Makalya Timpson. The ongoing CBA Negotiations will play a major role in how players’ pay structures are changed, which in turn will affect the signings.

However, given Napheesa Collier’s allegations against WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert, there is a belief that a deal might not be reached soon, and the WNBA could be heading to a lockout. Therefore, it is still unclear whether the roster size will increase for the next season. Turner’s position is at a bigger risk, since she is one of several unrestricted free agents on the roster.

We don’t know what the Indiana Fever front office is thinking in terms of Turner. However, they might end up keeping an eye on the player’s upcoming WNBL run, and use it to help their decision. Therefore, Brianna Turner needs to certainly leave a mark during the upcoming games.