Indiana Fever activate Damiris Dantas, waive rookie Celeste Taylor

Damiris Dantas is closer to making her debut with the Indiana Fever after signing with the team in the offseason. Celeste Taylor moves on -- and why that No. 15 pick was a missed opportunity.

Celeste Taylor (right) appeared in five games with the Fever after being selected in the second round.

Help is on the way for the Indiana Fever’s frontcourt, which already features NaLyssa Smith and Aliyah Boston.

Not only did Temi Fagbenle practice on Tuesday and is now on the verge of returning after being out for a month with a left foot injury, the team announced a few hours after practice on Tuesday that free-agent signing Damiris Dantas would be activated.

It’s not immediately clear when she’ll be available, but this is a step forward.

Dantas, 31, dealt with a visa issue that kept her out of training camp and then an injury. As the Fever set their opening night roster, they elected to suspended her contract (for undisclosed reasons) — allowing for them to keep a full 12-player roster in the meantime.

“Dantas gives us a WNBA veteran with experience in the post and her international experience in the Olympics will also benefit our team,” Fever general manager Lin Dunn said after signing her on Feb. 1. “She will be a tremendous addition on both ends of the floor as well as in our locker room.”

Now, in a corresponding move, 2024 second-round pick Celeste Taylor — a guard out of Ohio State University and the Big Ten’s 2024 defensive player of the year — has been waived.

Since there are only 12 roster spots per team (and 144 in the league), each spot is valuable. And more often than not, second-round picks do not make the regular-season roster.

Taylor, the 15th overall pick, appeared in five of their first 18 games and scored one point — at Las Vegas on May 25th.

Here's the problem with it: You could've drafted Caitlin Clark's close friend and former Iowa teammate Kate Martin, who instead was off the board three picks later (at 18) bound for Las Vegas. And anything you could have done to make Clark more comfortable, like having Martin in the locker room and potentially on the court (as someone who knows her tendencies and playing style) — it’s all the better.

Fever head coach Christie Sides was asked after practice on Tuesday for an update on Dantas: “Still working on that,” she said. “I’ve talked with (athletic trainer) Todd (Champlin) more, but we’re getting to that time so we’ll be able to come with something soon.”

The Fever (7-11) have three days between games right now. They begin a three-game trip out west in Seattle on Thursday.