Last season, Indiana’s backcourt injury list seemed to change by the week. With Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham among the players sidelined, the Fever were forced to patch together lineups and search outside the roster for help. In that stretch of uncertainty, an opportunity opened for a guard still looking for her next WNBA chance.
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Aari McDonald made the most of it. The former No. 3 overall pick joined Indiana on an emergency hardship deal, quickly became a steady presence with the ball, and earned a contract for the rest of the season. But a broken bone in her right foot ended her run, and she entered 2026 without a WNBA contract.
On Monday, September 7, McDonald’s wait is over. The league-leading Minnesota Lynx signed the veteran guard Monday ahead of the playoffs. In the corresponding move, Minnesota waived guard Eliska Joklova, making room for Caitlin Clark’s former Fever teammate on a roster that entered the transaction with the WNBA’s best record at 31-9.
“Aari McDonald has signed with the Minnesota Lynx. And, while it’s very late in the season – she just might end up being a very impactful pickup,” WNBA reporter Noa Dalzell wrote on X.
McDonald is a proven WNBA talent, but injuries have repeatedly interrupted her career. She reportedly suffered a torn labrum in June 2023.
Her next chance to reset came overseas. After the 2023 WNBA season, McDonald signed with the Perth Lynx for the 2023-24 WNBL campaign, joining the Australian club as an import point guard. She quickly became a major part of Perth’s offense, leading the league in scoring and later earning the team’s MVP honor.
Her run in Australia was also interrupted by a knee injury, though she returned before the season ended. A broken bone in her right foot then ended her 2025 Fever season, and a separate right lower-extremity injury limited her to one appearance for Breeze BC before ending her 2026 Unrivaled campaign.
However, McDonald is also not the one to back down. Time and again, she has made a comeback and has proved that she deserves a place in the WNBA.
Last year, the Fever signed her through an emergency hardship contract in light of the injuries that kept Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham out of the lineup. She played three games and averaged 11 points, 3 assists, and 2 steals per game. However, just under two weeks after she joined, the Fever waived her when they got their roster back.
The Fever returned to McDonald on June 25, signing her for the remainder of the season after waiving DeWanna Bonner. She provided Indiana with a steady ball handler and quickly made a stronger case for a long-term role.
McDonald made that opportunity count. On July 30, she scored a career-high 27 points in Indiana’s 107-101 win over the Phoenix Mercury, adding four assists and two steals as the short-handed Fever won their third straight game. It was the clearest indication that McDonald could do more than fill an injury-related roster spot.
A broken bone in her right foot ended that run in August. McDonald was forced to watch from the sideline as the Fever reached the playoffs before their season ended in the second round.
The WNBA guard intended to use 2026 Unrivaled to get back on the court. In November 2025, it was announced that Breeze BC had signed her for the 2026 season. Before her first game, she posted on her social media.
“Today is my first time playing in almost 5 months,” she wrote on January 5, alluding to the broken foot injury in August. However, she never appeared in another game and was ruled out for the rest of the season with a right lower extremity injury.
It has been a year since McDonald has competed as a pro in the WNBA. But her elite resume since college backs her up.
Before McDonald became Arizona’s program-changing star, she began her college career at Washington. She earned Pac-12 All-Freshman recognition in 2017 after starting 21 games for the Huskies and finishing as the team’s third-leading scorer. She transferred to Arizona in 2017, then sat out the 2017-18 season under NCAA transfer rules.
That year away preceded the breakout stretch that defined her college résumé. Once eligible in 2018-19, McDonald set Arizona’s single-season scoring record with 890 points, then went on to lead the Wildcats to their first national championship game appearance in 2021.
The former Arizona star led the Wildcats to their first NCAA national championship game appearance in 2021. That same year, McDonald was named Pac-12 Player of the Year and repeated as Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year after winning the defensive honor in 2020.
Can the Lynx trust her with her injury history? Perhaps not. But the Lynx didn’t bring her for heavy minutes anyway.
The team perhaps has the deepest lineup in the league. They are leading the WNBA’s 2026 season with the league-best 31-9 record. With Napheesa Collier, Olivia Miles, Courtney Williams, Kayla McBride and Natasha Howard dominating minutes, McDonald won’t log heavy minutes. However, Cheryl Reeve knows what the former Arizona star could bring to the table. She can score and make plays, and Reeve would like to use that in the postseason.
McDonald might get some backup minutes, which remains to be seen. But if she can show her potential in the remaining four games in this regular season, she could be a regular part of the Lynx’s bench as a playmaker. She is an excellent ball handler and could be a great addition to an already elite Minnesota roster.
Last year, McDonald played 20 games (started in 13) before exiting the season with a broken foot. She averaged 9.8 points, 2.4 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 1.3 steals. In 135 WNBA career games, she has averaged 8.8 points, 2.0 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.0 steals per game.
Minnesota is not asking McDonald to carry its offense, but the Lynx may have found a proven option for a critical stretch of the season. If she is healthy and can quickly settle into Cheryl Reeve’s system, her speed, ball-handling, and playmaking could give Minnesota another useful guard as the playoffs approach.