The Indiana Fever are in a great position entering the 2026 season. Last year, they were an above .500 team that won a playoff series and played a competitive second round against the eventual-champion Las Vegas Aces.
This season, they are running it back with the best parts of that 2025 roster. They’ve signed Aliyah Boston to a lucrative deal, and Kelsey Mitchell is back and bringing her All-WNBA play to Indiana once again.
However, for the Fever to go beyond the second round, their superstar, Caitlin Clark, will need to take a leap and become the best player in the WNBA. Her skillset and potential to do so are obvious, but she’ll need to turn projections into realizations or else the Fever will fall short of a title.
Let’s take a look at all the facets of Clark’s game and see how her play can help make the 2026 season a historic one for Indiana.
When Clark goes on a heater, she is unstoppable. Not hard to guard, not tough to beat, she is an inevitability, and no game plan or defensive scheme can slow her down.
Caitlin Clark vs The NY Liberty on 6/14:32pts | 8rebs | 9asts | 2steals Her first game back from her quad injury pic.twitter.com/bszTvrrygq
Clark is so good as a scorer that all that’s really left to do is find ways for her to get these points as efficiently as possible.
During her 2024 rookie campaign, Clark averaged 19.2 points and shot 34 percent from 3-point range and 90 percent from the free throw line. Those are impressive numbers, but she can improve from deep by just being a bit more selective with her shots.
Clark doesn’t need to be taking multiple dribbles and settling for contested 3s against double coverage. We know that Boston is a great pick-and-roll partner, creating space and opportunities for Clark. If she uses that option often, it’ll lead to better, higher percentage looks for her. This will improve her percentages and give her better looks on every shot.
While Clark has acknowledged that she needs some off-ball time, she will still often have the basketball in her hands and run the offense.
Caitlin: “I’m gonna be the primary ball handler that’s never gonna change” pic.twitter.com/tNAKWFw437
So, her decision-making will greatly impact how good the Fever’s offense will be. Clark averages 8.5 assists per game, making her one of the WNBA’s best ball distributors.
She generally does a great job of initiating the offense, but there are moments where she gets flustered and frustrated playing through contact. In those moments, she’s prone to jawing at referees, turning the ball over and jacking up bad shots in an attempt to get out of the scenario.
Caitlin Clark T’d up after a costly turnover 😖😖 pic.twitter.com/GIrNjZDHXd
A lot of this won’t go away completely, but reducing as much of it as she can will be pivotal to her growth. The more Clark can play through contact and make the right passes, the better off the Fever will be.
Also, hopefully, watching the Fever excel even in her absence showed her that her teammates can be trusted as scorers, and even if she can do it all, she doesn’t have to.
Whenever Clark gets a statue made in her honor, you can bet the pose used for her won’t be a defensive one.
While defense is a weak spot in her game, it doesn’t have to be debilitating. For her, it’s all about discouraging hunting her on that side of the ball. If Clark can handle her one-on-one defensive assignments enough, then that’s a huge win for the Fever.
So far, Clark has shown signs that she can do this. She is respected as a help defender. Clark averages 1.6 steals per game and does a solid job in the paint, holding onto her space on the court until help arrives.
🇺🇸 CC12 can do it alllll!! 🤩#FIBAWWC x #WeOwnTheGame pic.twitter.com/yZJyHazr0w