When the Indiana Fever entered the regular season, many predicted them to be championship contenders. But the basketball gods had other plans. First, their core offensive strength, Caitlin Clark, was sidelined. Then, both of her replacements, Sydney Colson and Sophie Cunningham, were injured in the same game. Suddenly, the team was left with just eight active players, a 2–4 record, and two consecutive losses. But then came a blessing in disguise.

As the team looked to fill a spot under the emergency hardship contract, guard Aari McDonald turned out to be the perfect match. With her speed, three-point shooting, tenacious defense, and, most importantly, her ability to run the offense at a high level, the Fever were able to regain their rhythm. So, what initially seemed like a surprising cut by the LA Sparks ended up being a perfect fit for Stephanie White’s system.

And that’s how the Fever have bounced back with wins, including the one over the Chicago Sky, where McDonald posted 12 points and two rebounds in 25 minutes of play. So, there’s no way Fever fans wouldn’t make this strange yet obvious request to keep her. Well, this isn’t the first time a player has found themselves in such a situation. It happened with Kamiah Smalls before. It was during her 2023 hardship contract with Sun when the team had multiple players out, but she was waived shortly after the original roster returned to full health. That’s the reality for most players who sign hardship contracts. But of course, there are exceptions.

And one of them is Crystal Dangerfield, who signed a hardship contract with the New York Liberty in 2022. Due to her consistent play and the team’s ongoing injuries, New York converted her hardship deal into a rest-of-season contract, and she went on to become their starting point guard down the stretch. So, it can happen, but…

Is there a way to keep Aari McDonald for the rest of the season?

When Aari McDonald joined the Indiana Fever, she already knew the limitations that come with an emergency hardship contract. But for her, it was more than just a temporary gig—it was a way out of sitting at home, a chance to be back where she belonged. When the Fever called her up under an emergency hardship contract, she responded like someone who had been waiting for this moment every single day. “I was very anxious. It felt weird sitting at home watching the games this time of year. But when I got the call, I was very excited, very blessed, and humbled to join a team like the Fever,” McDonald said after her first practice. “I’m just excited, and I’m ready to compete and win.”

And that’s what she did immediately by delivering 7 points, five assists, and three steals in 27 minutes against the Washington Mystics. But what makes her even more special is her uniqueness, as HC White put it, “We ran things that she didn’t go over in practice..She just knows it from watching the film… Not everybody can do that.”

Also, the move was beneficial for both sides: it addressed the Fever’s immediate roster need and came at a cost-efficient rate, since emergency hardship players are signed for 75% of the applicable minimum base salary. But the thing is that such contracts are only valid until the injured players return. So, once someone like Sophie Cunningham, who is listed as day-to-day, or Clark, who’s already back at practice, rejoins the active roster, the Fever are required to release the emergency hardship signee. That means Aari could be on her way out, despite how well she’s fit into the team’s system.

And truth be told, we’d all love to see more of her. I mean, why not? She’s averaging a career-high 3.7 assists per game, providing feisty perimeter defense, and offering the kind of playmaking that Coach Stephanie White said could “get everybody back to their natural positions.” And just imagine her running the floor alongside Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell, and Aliyah Boston!

“She just brings a different energy and tenacity, and that’s something I think we really needed,” Caitlin Clark said. “She got us into our offense well… I thought she did a tremendous job, honestly.” So that was how McDonald led Fever to two consecutive wins by clinging to a 6-4 record and looking to stay afloat in the Commissioner’s Cup race. But the question is still the same: Will Fever keep Aari?

The Indiana Fever has a lot to think about

For the Indiana Fever to keep Aari McDonald, there’s just one way, and that is to waive one of the players on their current roster. But that move seems highly unlikely. With the entire roster returning to full strength, the team would have six point guards and seven forwards. And since head coach Stephanie White has previously favored a forward-heavy lineup with limited point guard depth, she’s expected to stick with that formula, meaning no additional signings in the backcourt.

However, if she reflects on some of Indiana’s biggest missteps from the offseason, she might consider keeping Aari on board. After all, Aari brings a much-needed defensive edge to the lineup. “Aari McDonald would be an asset to the team because there has been this idea of having Clark play off-ball a little bit, just a few minutes a game, like she did over at Iowa. So this is like nothing new. It’s just new to the Indiana Fever,” shared Rosaline Lee.

Talking about who would need to go to make space for Aari—First, there’s the No. 19 overall pick in the draft, Makayla Timpson. While she’s on a three-year, $217,640 deal, earning $69,267 this season, she’s the most likely to get replaced by Aari, given her inexperience and lack of playing time. Then, there’s veteran forward-center Brianna Turner. She’s averaging just 0.6 PPG and 1.0 RPG in 5.4 minutes per game, on an unprotected $85K contract. Clearly, she’s another candidate who could be waived to make space for McDonald’s energy, defensive impact, and pace.

“There are players on the team that are getting DNPs—Do Not Plays. And there are players on the team that are not on protected contracts,” added Rosaline. And she’s right. While these players rarely get to play, Aari has been more impactful in limited action. Just consider she’s been averaging  9.5 PPG, 3.5 APG, 1.5 RPG, shooting 40% from the field and 36.4% from beyond the arc. But, as the analyst puts it better, “Aari McDonald comes in—she can pass. She is a scoring threat. She can score in the paint. She can just blow past defenders. She can score from beyond the perimeter. She just seems like the missing puzzle piece the Indiana Fever have been needing,”

So, you’ve got options to waive off, reasons to keep Aari, but still, it’s not possible. Even if they do decide to bring Aari back, she’d have to wait out the league’s standard 10-day hardship window before rejoining the team. And this wouldn’t be the first time the Fever have faced this exact scenario. This has happened before in 2022 with Crystal Dangerfield. Back then, the Fever signed Dangerfield to fill a temporary roster spot while players were overseas due to the WNBA’s prioritization rule. But once those players returned, she was waived and had to wait 10 days before being re-signed by any other team.

So, whether the Fever signs Aari again or not, she will have to leave the roster for now. And even if the team does plan to bring her back, she wouldn’t return until after June 25, meaning she’d miss four games before even becoming eligible. Only after waiving someone like Timpson or Turner, who would then pass through a 48-hour waiver window, could Aari be re-signed. And honestly? Aari seems to understand the situation all too well.

“I mean, again, I’m in survival mode, so I got to be hungry, got to have that hunger, that grit,” McDonald said. “I’ve always had that in me, so I mean you can’t take it out, but it was definitely brought out tonight. I’ve been quiet with that in my last couple of years, but I mean tonight with this team, this staff—it brought that out of me and it felt amazing and I had fun.” But, ultimately, the Fever do have non-guaranteed contracts they could waive to bring McDonald back. But for now, these are all future decisions, and the front office has to navigate a complex juggling act. So, what do you think will happen?