Fever bring back Natasha Howard, then acquire Sophie Cunningham for NaLyssa Smith in four-team deal
The Fever front office had an active Friday, one day before free agents can sign new deals. Howard and Cunningham have sought-after traits and fill spots the team wanted to upgrade.
UPDATE: Feb. 2: The deal expanded into a four-team deal and was completed on Sunday. The Fever also acquired 6-1 guard Jaelyn Brown, a 26-year-old coming off her rookie season, and they swapped third-round picks with Dallas in 2027.
The Indiana Fever got better today.
Ten days into the start of WNBA free agency, things intensified in the last week — and especially in the last 24 hours.
First, the Fever reached agreement with free-agent forward Natasha Howard on a deal to bring her back to Indiana. “It feels good to be back where I started,” she tweeted.
Later Friday, ESPN reported that Dallas was trading Satou Sabally, a player every team would have liked, to Phoenix.
But… there was a third team involved. That turned out to be the Fever.
New Fever general manager Amber Cox spent the past two years as the COO of the Wings so she knows Sabally and that franchise well. The Fever are acquiring 6-foot-1 wing Sophie Cunningham and the No. 19 pick in exchange for forward NaLyssa Smith, a Texas native, and the No. 8 pick.
ESPN first reported the terms of the deal.
So in the last three days, the Fever re-signed top priority Kelsey Mitchell to a supermax deal, added Howard, acquired Cunningham and moved on from Smith.
Free agents cannot sign until Feb. 1 and the trade has not yet been completed.
“I know the fans and the program are just really excited to have her back,” guard Lexie Hull said of Mitchell on Thursday. “She’s just such a key piece of the future of the Indiana Fever. So, so happy she's back. And I mean, I love her. I love playing with her. So excited to get to be on the court with her again.”
In Howard… the Fever are getting a three-time champion, two-time All-Star, and the 2019 Defensive Player of the Year. She runs the floor well, is effective in pick-and-rolls, and can space the floor.
She’s played for four other franchises — Lynx, Storm, Liberty, and Wings — and so she’s experienced a lot. The Fever lacked much playoff experience and their entire starting lineup made their postseason debut.
Meanwhile, Howard has won multiple titles and appeared in 53 playoff games.
In her 11th season in the WNBA, Howard averaged 17.6 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 2.9 assists while playing about 30 minutes per game.
Fever president Kelly Krauskopf was the one who drafted her fifth overall in 2014 and she was coached by Stephanie White during her first two seasons in the WNBA.
Both Howard and Cunningham are former teammates with Briann January as well. More comfort and familiarity…
The writing was on the wall for Smith to be moved, a true mutual parting of ways. She was frustrated with how last season played out. Despite starting in 37 of 40 games, she only played 13 minutes in the two playoff games.
“It was really hard because coming in, there was a lot of different conversations of how it was gonna play out,” Smith acknowledged during her exit interview. “So just (my role) fluctuating throughout the season, it was a lot of highs and lows.
“Everybody comes into a season thinking they're gonna have this outstanding, accolade, achievement season, so I feel like I didn't get to do as much as I wanted to do. I didn't get to contribute as much as I wanted to contribute.”
Smith was a top draft pick, selected by the Fever second overall in 2022. She averaged career-lows 10.6 points and 7.1 rebounds this past season, her third in the WNBA.
Smith now gets a fresh start back home in Texas, where she was grew up and attended college at Baylor.
Cunningham and A Memorable Interaction
The interaction above stuck out to me when it happened, last July during the All-Star game in Phoenix. And then it was the first thing I thought about after the Fever dealt for Cunningham.
The 28-year-old wing, who is active on social media, has been one of the few players across the league to speak up and praise Caitlin Clark for her talent and what she’s doing for the entire league.
Appearing on The Travis Hearn Podcast, she had nothing but great things to say about Clark, the 2024 Rookie of the Year.
“I think that she’s a gem,” she said. “I didn't know her, but All-Star Weekend we kind of bantered back and forth a little bit. And she's lovely. She has a lot of pressure on her shoulders, and I think a lot of people always have a lot to say with people they don't even know or shoes they've never been in.
“And for me, I think she's handling the pressure very well. She's doing a lot of great things for women's basketball, and I'm a fan. Like I would love to play with her one day, for real.”
And now she will.
Cunningham was drafted 13 overall in 2019 by the Mercury and she spent her first six seasons there during the scorching-hot Phoenix summers. She started in half the games last season and averaged 8.4 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game while shooting 37.8% from distance.
She signed a one-year extension in mid-September, right before the end of the season.
But now, like Smith, she’s getting a fresh start elsewhere. Already in Phoenix, Diana Taurasi is likely retiring and Brittney Griner has moved on to Atlanta.
Cunningham has 15 games of playoff experience, she’s a shooter, and a midwest girl. She grew up in Missouri and went to college in Columbia.
Both Smith and Cunningham had changed their Instagrams to reflect the team change within 30 minutes of word getting out.
The Fever aren’t done. The salary of Howard’s deal is not immediately known, but the team still has money to spend and roster spots to upgrade.
“I do think this team needs a little bit more experience, probably some more size, and if you look at the teams that are in the playoffs right now, they're loaded with players who have been there,” Krauskopf said at her introductory presser.
The areas of focus include, but are not limited to: experience, defense, shooting, and depth.
By bringing back Howard and dealing for Cunningham, the Fever took a big step in the right direction — and I think we’ll see other free agents want to join the fun in Indy and play alongside Clark too.
“I would think that if you are a smart basketball player and you watch the way she plays, you would want to play with her,” added Krauskopf. “Much like Tyrese Halliburton, she gets you the ball in places that you didn't even know you were open because she passes to space, she finds openings and ways to free up other players.”