Stephanie White Seemingly Confirms Lexie Hull and $249,244 FA Re-Signing to Extend Fever’s Core With Caitlin Clark

The Indiana Fever are facing a pivotal offseason, with several key players who support Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston headed for free agency. That list includes All-Star Kelsey Mitchell and dependable contributor Lexie Hull.

Mitchell, Sophie Cunningham, Natasha Howard, Damiris Dantas, Sydney Colson and Brianna Turner all enter the offseason as unrestricted free agents, while Hull is restricted.

During an appearance on the “Bird's Eye View with Sue Bird” podcast, Fever coach Stephanie White was asked what she learned in her first season back leading the team.

Her comments essentially confirmed long-held expectations that Hull and Mitchell, the franchise’s max player with a $269,244 salary in 2025, will return as part of the Fever’s long-term plan.

“With Kelsey, Kelsey’s just a pro’s pro,” White said. “She’s so low-maintenance. She just comes, she just wants to play. … She wants to know that you care about her. She wants you to be honest with her. And at the end of the day, she’s low-maintenance; you just have to put her in positions to be successful.

“You think about when Tamika (Catchings) left and retired -- this franchise went through a lot. And Kelsey’s been the constant, and she deserves the opportunity to be a part of the successful years of the Indiana Fever. I was really happy for her about that.”

White also talked about Hull and highlighted her potential impact moving forward.

“She handled every situation we put her in -- coming off the bench, starting -- she approached every game the same way,” White said. “I think she’s still got a lot of upside left. It was just a really refreshing group to be around.”

Fever GM says Kelsey Mitchell is Fever’s top offseason priority

The Indiana Fever weren’t viewed as a postseason threat after they lost several rotation players -- most notably Caitlin Clark, Sophie Cunningham, Aari McDonald and Syd Colson -- heading into the playoffs.

Still, they stunned the No. 3 seed Atlanta Dream in the first round and pushed the Las Vegas Aces to a hard-fought Game 5 before coming up short.

Following that strong postseason showing, Fever general manager Amber Cox made clear the franchise’s top offseason objective.

“I’m going to sound like a broken record from last year. The priority will be Kelsey Mitchell and making sure she remains in a Fever jersey. Wow, what a season for her. She laid it all out on the line,” Cox said. “(Mitchell) will continue to be a focal point as we enter free agency.”

Mitchell posted a career-best 20.2 points per game while shooting 39.4% from three, and in the playoffs she boosted those numbers to 22.3 points per game on 42.9% from deep.