Indiana
WNBA trade deadline is Tuesday. Will Indiana Fever make moves? ‘I’ve had a few calls.’
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INDIANAPOLIS — For Indiana Fever general manager Lin Dunn, the market has been calm ahead of Tuesday’s WNBA trade deadline.
“It’s been awfully quiet,” Dunn told IndyStar on Wednesday. “I’ve had a few phone calls, I’ve made a few phone calls, but what I think people don’t understand, in particular the fans, is that with a hard salary cap, it’s very difficult to maneuver and make trades, you know, realistic, substantial trades, because you’re limited with your salary cap and your roster spots. So I don’t anticipate there being any blockbuster trades.”
Making substantial trades is significantly more difficult in the WNBA than it is in other major professional leagues like the NBA or MLB, because of the WNBA’s hard cap.
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The hard cap for the 2024 season is $1,463,200, and that accounts for all 12 players plus possible dead cap money from releasing players under protected contracts. That small cap is why there are very few blockbuster trades in the WNBA — teams will usually swap a bench player for another bench player with a similar salary, like how the Fever traded Queen Egbo for Amanda Zahui B. last season.
The only major trade in the WNBA this season happened before the Olympic break, as the Sky sent Marina Mabrey (on a $200,000+ contract) to Connecticut in exchange for Rachel Banham and Moriah Jefferson. That trade only came about, though, because Mabrey requested a trade from the Sky.
Fever’s Christie Sides on improved team chemistry during WNBA break
Indiana Fever coach Christie Sides has seen progress in team chemistry during the WNBA’s summer break.
At this point in the season, too, all players’ salaries are fully guaranteed for the rest of the year. So, even if a player on an unprotected contract were to be released, they would still be owed their salary for the rest of the season.
While trades may be more complicated, teams can still acquire players who have not yet played for a WNBA team this season under a prorated contract — something the Fever could possibly afford.
The Fever’s cap allocations currently stand at $1,396,695, per Spotrac, and that includes dead cap hits of $85,000 for Victoria Vivians’ buyout and $29,962 for the rest of Celeste Taylor’s contract this season. That leaves $66,505 of cap room for the Fever to potentially sign a player for the final stretch of the season.
But, when it comes to players who would make a true difference for the Fever, there are few to choose from. Indiana would likely be looking for a wing — someone who can play the 2, 3, and 4, score efficiently, and have a good defensive mind.
To join the Fever at this point in the year, a player would likely need to have been waived by a different team already or not played in the WNBA this season.
There are three international players with ample WNBA experience that have not yet played in the league this year, opting to train with their country’s teams in preparation for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Now that the Olympics are over, those players — Belgian center Emma Meesseman and French guards Gabby Williams and Marine Johannes — are able to return to the WNBA.
Johannes is a restricted free agent with New York, meaning the Liberty have the exclusive rights to negotiate with her for the rest of the season. Williams and Meesseman are unrestricted free agents, meaning they can sign with whichever team they want, if they decide to come back to the WNBA this season at all.
“It seems like there’s definitely interest in all three of them, but I don’t know that any of the three have even decided if they want to come back,” Dunn said. “They missed the first part of the season to train. Now, they’ve gone through the Olympics. They’re tired, and if they come back, it’ll be a lot of money. There’s not a lot of money to give anybody.”
Between the two unrestricted free agents, the Fever would probably target Williams, a five-year veteran who is a versatile and defensive-minded wing. Her Hoop Stats reported the lowest a player with 3+ years of service can sign for is $27,280 — well under the Fever’s available cap space. But a player of Williams’ caliber, especially after shining during the Olympics, will likely require more than the prorated minimum.
The Fever could also make an effort to contact guard Odyssey Sims, a nine-year WNBA veteran who was excellent in 11 games for the Dallas Wings this season. Despite being on a hardship contract because of injuries within the Wings’ roster, Sims started multiple games for Dallas, averaging 33.9 minutes, 17.2 points, and 5.6 rebounds per game.
Dallas had to release Sims as its players returned from injury, and because of WNBA rules, it cannot re-sign her for at least 10 days. The Wings are also over the cap, so they would need to trade a player in order to re-sign Sims — opening a window for other franchises, including the Fever, to make an offer to the 32-year-old guard.
Follow IndyStar Fever Insider Chloe Peterson on X at @chloepeterson67.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A Hamilton County teen on Friday said he’s excited for his first convention as a voting delegate.
Jackson Massillamany, who just turned 18 and graduated from high school in May, is no stranger to politics. His father, Mario, is the chair of the Hamilton County Republican Party and his mother, Amy, serves on the Hamilton County Council.
Jackson said he signed up to be a delegate at this weekend’s Indiana Republican Party convention in Fort Wayne after Mario asked if he was interested.
“It’s kinda cool to see how this is done and what my dad actually does,” he said. “At first, I wasn’t really excited for it, but I’m here now and I’m having a blast.”
Mario Massillamany, who is a contributor to “All INdiana Politics,” said Jackson is the youngest delegate at the convention. He said he has been taking Jackson along to party functions ever since he was an infant.
“It’s a great opportunity for him to get more active and involved in politics, and I think we need to try and get the younger generations involved in our political process,” he said. “I think this is a great opportunity for him to come here, have a good experience and then go back and talk to his friends about why it’s important to get involved.”
Jackson will be one of 1,800 delegates tasked with picking a nominee for secretary of state. It’s a closely watched race. Current Secretary of State Diego Morales, who is seeking a second term, has faced numerous controversies since he took office. Knox County Clerk David Shelton and conservative activist and 2024 gubernatorial candidate Jamie Reitenour have been running against Morales for months. Last month, Max Engling, a staffer for Sen. Jim Banks and a 2024 congressional candidate, joined the race at the last minute with Banks’ backing.
The Republican winner in November will have to face Bayh family scion Beau Bayh, a Democrat, along with Libertarian Lauri Shillings and, potentially, former Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard, who is running as an independent under the Lincoln Party label.
Mario said he’s telling Jackson to keep his eyes and ears open and to meet with all of the weekend’s candidates.
Both Massillamanys said the key to getting young people to vote and to get politically involved is to, first, encourage them to register to vote and, second, to elevate more young people who are in politics.
“I feel like many people are scared to be involved in politics because nobody else younger does it,” Jackson said. “So, like, me and other people my age, being able to reach out to others to try and get involved, I feel like, is the best way for people my age to get involved.”
Delegates to the 2026 Indiana Republican Party convention will make their selections on Saturday. Besides secretary of state candidates, they will choose nominees for state treasurer and state comptroller. The current occupants of those offices, Daniel Elliott and Elise Nieshalla, respectively, are running for second terms and are unopposed.
Government reporter Garrett Bergquist will be in Fort Wayne on Saturday and will have a full report on the results of the convention at 6, 10 and 11 p.m. on WISH-TV.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A man is dead after a shooting Thursday night on Indy’s near east side, police say.
According to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, just after 8 p.m., officers were called to the 2000 block of East Washington Street on a report of a person shot.
When officers arrived, they found an adult male inside an apartment with injuries consistent with gunshot wounds.
Indianapolis Emergency Medical Services transported the man to a hospital in critical condition, where died shortly after arriving.
Homicide detectives responded to the scene to begin the investigation.
Crime Resources
Gov. Mike Braun asked state regulators to reconsider their decision to greenlight a $71 million rate increase for AES Indiana, doubling down on his condemnation of a move that could leave Indianapolis residents with higher electrical bills for years.
Braun wrote in a June 18 news release that he had asked Indiana Utility Counselor Abby Gray, who heads the office representing ratepayers in proceedings before the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, to petition for a rehearing of the AES rate case.
Gray indicated in the release that her office would submit the petition shortly. No petition had been posted on the IURC’s online docket as of this story’s publication.
The rate increase, which was approved by the IURC on June 17, was substantially less than the $192 million increase that AES initially requested. It was also less than the amount proposed in a settlement last October between AES and major electricity consumers.
But the Office of Utility Consumer Counselor, which Gray leads, came out strongly against any increase to AES’s base rates. In September, the OUCC called for a $21 million reduction instead.
As the Republican Party grapples with rising discontent over affordability, Braun has used opposition to rising utility rates to telegraph that he’s committed to keeping costs down for Indiana residents. He signed a law in February that allows the state to make rate-setting decisions that reward or penalize utilities based on metrics including affordability.
In March, he told reporters that he would take on Indiana’s five investor-owned utilities, describing himself as the “new sheriff in town.”
And after the IURC voted 3-1 to approve the AES rate increase, he wrote in a post to X that he was “deeply disappointed.”
Braun wrote in the June 18 news release that he had appointed Gray, a longtime OUCC lawyer and judge, to her current post because he knew she “would help me fight for Hoosiers.”
According to AES’s estimates, the rate increase will cost households an additional $5 per month for every 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity they use, beginning in July. A second hike will take effect in January.
Tilly Robinson is a Pulliam fellow for the Indianapolis Star. She can be reached at tilly.robinson@indystar.com.
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