A 10-year veteran and former WNBA champion, Shatori Walker-Kimbrough’s experience was exactly why the Indiana Fever brought her on a veteran’s minimum contract of $300,000. As it turned out, however, she only saw a total of just six minutes of garbage-time action across two games, and now, the Fever have decided to waive her.

Her release has created an immediate ripple effect. Under the league’s CBA, all teams must maintain a full 12-player standard roster. By waiving Shatori, Indiana now sits at 11 active standard players and must now fill that open spot quickly.

According to WNBA analyst Rosalina Lee, the two most realistic in-house replacement options are Justine Pissott and Bree Hall. And of the two, Lee believes Pissott is the more logical choice. “Shatori is a 5’9” guard. If the Indiana Fever are to do anything, it is to sign maybe someone with a little more length,” she said.

For Lee, Pissott’s case starts with her physical profile. “She does have the size at 6’4”. She can shoot from the perimeter, and while we have only seen her for a few minutes at a time in some preseason games, she looked pretty good,” Lee said.

That’s not to say Bree Hall is entirely out of the picture. As a 6’1” guard, she does bring more size than the recently waived Walker-Kimbrough. But for Lee, the Fever’s existing roster construction makes Hall a less compelling case. As she put it, Indiana is already “guard-heavy as it is.”

And that assessment is difficult to dispute when you look at the roster. Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell, Tyasha Harris, and rookie Raven Johnson occupy the primary ball-handling and playmaking roles, with Sophie Cunningham and Lexie Hull providing additional wing depth.

The guard logjam is precisely what left Shatori without minutes in the first place. Adding another guard to that mix would do little to address the team’s actual needs.

Beyond the positional imbalance, Lee also pointed to a specific team weakness that Pissott’s size could help address. The Indiana Fever currently rank 12th out of 15 teams in rebounding. Bringing in Pissot could to an extent help fix this issue.

“Justine Pissott could get a promotion,” Lee said. She did, however, acknowledge that the Fever could go with Hall instead, but she was direct in her preference. “If I’m the Indiana Fever, I would say that’s not the smartest idea,” she said.

There is also the option of signing an entirely new player from outside the current roster. But whatever direction they ultimately go, the clock is ticking. The 12th roster spot needs to be filled eventually. And in a season where they are actively gunning for the championship, getting the right piece into place sooner rather than later could be important.

Would Justin Pissott Actually Play if Promoted? Breaking Down Her Chances of Earning Bench Minutes

If the Indiana Fever do promote Justine Pissott to the standard roster, she would technically be filling the spot vacated by Shatori Walker-Kimbrough. But given how starved of minutes Shatori was before being waived, it’s a completely valid question to ask whether Pissott would actually see the floor, or simply become another name on the roster that never really gets used.

The honest answer is that Pissott has a very realistic chance of earning immediate bench minutes if the Indiana fever promote her. And the reason comes down to what she offers tactically that the current roster doesn’t already have in abundance.

Because of her unique blend of size and shooting, head coach Stephanie White could deploy Pissott as a massive small forward alongside guards like Lexie Hull or Sophie Cunningham. That would give Indiana an extremely long, physical, and rebounding-heavy perimeter defensively.

And of course, Pissott also have the skillset and physical tools to perform. She stands at 6-foot-4 with a lethal three-point stroke. Unlike traditional bigs who clog the paint, Pissott functions more as a stretch-four. Her ability to stay on the perimeter, pull defenders away from the basket, and knock down catch-and-shoot threes gives Indiana a type of offensive weapon its current bench unit largely lacks.

Injuries could also create opportunities for Pissott. The Fever have already experienced depth concerns in the frontcourt, particularly involving star center Aliyah Boston and backup big Makayla Timpson.

With limited frontcourt depth, Stephanie White may eventually become desperate for usable size. This means Pissott could realistically be just one foul-trouble situation away from being forced into meaningful minutes.

If that moment comes, the early signs from the preseason suggest she may be more ready for it than her development roster status implies. And for a Fever team chasing a championship, having that kind of insurance policy available is useful.