Indiana Fever salary cap for Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell, WNBA free agents – USFTB

October 21, 2026 7 Min Read

Oct. 21, 2026, 4:45 a.m. ET

The Indiana Fever face a salary cap challenge in 2027 with several key players due for new contracts.
Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell may need to take less than the maximum salary to build a championship-contending roster.
Trading players like Monique Billings or Lexie Hull could create necessary cap space for depth.
If both Clark and Mitchell sign for max contracts, the team would struggle to afford quality role players.

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Fever front office has a cap space problem on is hands.

Going into 2027, Indiana is hoping to sign Caitlin Clark to an EPIC extension, potentially raising her salary to the max, while also re-signing unrestricted free agent Kelsey Mitchell, who has spent all nine years of her professional career in a Fever uniform.

But what goes into re-signing Mitchell, a player who could command a multiyear max contract on the open market , while also having Aliyah Boston already on a supermax through 2029 and Clark eligible for a max through EPIC?

There are multiple routes the Fever could go, and IndyStar projected what could happen in those scenarios.

Some assumptions: The salary cap can rise as much as 13% to $7.91 million, per the collective bargaining agreement, so that is the projected salary cap in all these scenarios. Thus, the supermax (20% of the cap) will be $1.582 million and the max (17% of the cap) will be at $1.3447 million. The minimum salary cap hit will be at $288,600, as projected by Her Hoop Stats, and based on the fact the league said player minimums will rise about $70,000 over the seven-year life of the contract.

This is what the Fever’s 2027 cap table looks like (figures other than supermax provided by Her Hoop Stats): Boston will make the supermax at $1.582 million, Clark (pre-EPIC signing) will make $596,597, Lexie Hull will make $803,250, Monique Billings will make $800,000, Makayla Timpson will make $305,250, Raven Johnson will make $300,698, and Damiris Dantas will make $288,600. That is currently $4.676 million of cap space already taken up, with a projected $3.53 million left for five players (plus Clark’s EPIC raise) in 2027.

Here’s how the Indiana Fever cap space is impacted by their star players:

Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell take less to build championship roster

Caitlin Clark said in her exit interview that she knows her worth as a player, “but at the same time, sometimes you have to make sacrifices” to construct a championship-contending roster.

In this hypothetical scenario, let’s say both Clark and Mitchell sign for $1,000,000 for 2027. That’s the same amount Boston, who was eligible for a max in 2026, signed for in the first year of her EPIC deal in 2026.

Clark and Mitchell each taking a discount off the max could help the Fever tremendously. If the Fever also retain every other player they have signed for 2027, they would have around $1.8 million left in cap space to sign four more players.

That could be good for a couple mid-tier players for around $500,000 or $600,000, as well as a player around $400,000 and one more on the minimum contract.

Trading Indiana Fever players to create cap space

This scenario is similar to the first: Clark and Mitchell sign for $1,000,000 each in 2027. The difference comes in how the Fever manage the players that are already signed for 2027.

Indiana could trade Billings for cap relief. Billings underperformed the size of her contract in 2026, struggling with the switch from the 5 to the 4 to the point she eventually moved to come off the bench halfway through the season. She does, however, have prior years in her career, like when she was in Phoenix or Golden State or Atlanta, that shows she could live up to this contract size. The Fever could trade her on that potential: if another team can find a starting spot for her at the 5, she could be worth her contract size. Maybe a fresh start would be good for Billings, too.

Indiana also has Hull on what could be considered an inflated contract. It would be more difficult to move Hull, however, as she has only been on one team for her five-year career. Potential trade partners would likely be more willing to move with Billings, who has demonstrated success on various different teams in the league, rather than Hull, who hasn’t played in the WNBA outside of Indianapolis.

Trading one of those two players could also provide some crucial cap relief for the Fever. Indiana would have $2.6 million left in cap space for five players in this scenario, allowing them to potentially sign a high-tier free agent for another $1 million, a player in the $600,000 range, and a couple players in the $350,000 range along with someone on the minimum.

This scenario would be the most ideal, roster-construction wise, for depth in 2027. The Fever would retain their Big 3 and still have money left for another high-tier free-agent and some solid depth pieces.

Fever will be tight on cap space if Kelsey Mitchell re-signs on supermax

The Fever, considered as Mitchell’s prior team in the upcoming free agency period, are the only team that can offer her a supermax in 2027.

This scenario, in which Clark would sign for the max, Mitchell for the supermax and Billings is traded, would still be tight on cap space. The Fever would have around $1.69 million left in cap space for five players, which could get them one mid-tier player at around $525,000 and four more players on minimum contracts.

They get a little more room if Mitchell signs for the regular max in this same scenario; the Fever would have about $1.94 million available in cap space, allowing for potentially two mid-tier players around $500,000 (or a player at $650,000 and a player at $350,000 or any combination of that) and three players around the minimum.

Caitlin Clark takes discount for Kelsey Mitchell to re-signs

Along with Clark saying she’s willing to make sacrifices in her salary to make sure the Fever can construct a good team, she and the Fever are going to “work our butt off to get (Mitchell) back” in 2027.

In this scenario, Clark takes a more significant discount and makes $800,000 in 2027, while Mitchell signs for the supermax. If the Fever retain every other player signed for 2027 in this scenario, they would have $1.427 million left for four players. That could be two mid-tier players at around $400,000 or $450,000, along with two players on a minimum contract.

If Clark makes $800,000 and Mitchell takes the max, the Fever would have an extra $250,000 of cap space left for a total of $1.667 million for four more players. That money could be used to get two slightly better role players with contracts totaling around $550,000, along with two more players on the minimum.

Will Kelsey Mitchell take a discount to stay, or leave Fever?

Let’s say Clark signs for the full amount allowed via EPIC in 2027, which is the max, and Mitchell takes a more significant hometown discount totaling an $850,000 salary.

In this scenario, the Fever would have $1.625 million left for four players, which totals two players at around $500,000 and two players slightly above the minimum at around $310,000.

This one seems more unlikely, as Mitchell did say she needed to be “selfish” in free agency, and at 30, she is getting to the back half of her career. So, it wouldn’t be surprising if she’s aiming to make as much money as possible, especially under the new CBA, in this portion of her career.

That’s why this scenario covers either Mitchell electing to stay on a hometown discount, or a potential free agent signing for the same amount of money. If Mitchell elects to leave Indianapolis, the Fever could sign a free-agent for around $850,000 and those other four players mentioned.

Fever could maximize salary cap through unlikely options

This one seems unlikely, because the Fever are determined to give Clark at least some sort of raise on the EPIC provision in 2027. But, if Clark hypothetically is not willing to sign the EPIC provision, she would stay at her fourth-year rookie contract salary of $587,596.

There are multiple things that could happen after that: Mitchell could take the supermax, and that would leave the Fever with $1.638 million for four more players — good for three mid-tier players between $400,000 and $550,000, along with a player on the minimum.

Mitchell could also take the max, leaving the Fever with $1.8 million for four more players, including three players at around $500,000 and one player at around $350,000.

If Mitchell elects to leave, the Fever could sign a different player to a max contract, and still have the same room for those other four players.

The most unlikely Indiana Fever salary cap scenario

This one, based on current salary cap projections and the Fever’s already signed players for 2027, simply is not possible.

If both Clark and Mitchell sign for the max, the Fever would be over the projected cap of $7.91 million with their roster construction even if the other four unsigned spots were all at the projected minimum of $288,600. The Fever would only be over the cap by about $14,000, however, leaving some wiggle room if the minimum for 2027 is lower than projected.