(W)NBA2k25: Indiana Fever

[Radii]

Offseason

Retirements

Indiana's backup PG Courtney Vandersloot retires after 15 years. She averaged 9.6 points per game and 6.3 assists per game over her career. She won a title in 2021, was a 6 time all star, 2 time 1st teamer and 3 time second teamer.


PG Kristi Toliver retires after 14 years. She wasn't on a team last year. She won a title in 2019 and was a 3 time all star. She averaged 11.8 ppg over her career.


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Draft Lottery

Indiana, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Connecticut are the 4 teams in the lottery.

4th pick: Connecticut
3rd Pick: Atlanta
2nd Pick: Los Angeles
1st Pick: Indiana

"Ths is their 9th consecutive lottery selection" - OUCH.

I believe there is a clear number 1 pick, though above average at best in this awful draft class.


Options

We have 3 team options:

PF Aliyah Boston - obviously we pick this up, she's our second best player.
PF Nyara Sabally - decline, she came over in our trade for Smith.
PG Grace Berger - decline, she can't defend.


Qualifying Offers

We make a 101k offer to Lexie Hull, our backup SF.

Early Free Agency

Once again it looks like many of the best players in the league went into free agency, including A'Ja Wilson and Napheesa Collier, sheesh.

Here's our depth chart going into early free agency:

PG: Clark (95)
SG: Carrington (86), Hayes (75)
SF: Powers (79)
PF: Boston (90), Morgan (67)
C: Mogbo (74)

Round 1

I offer a max deal to SF Napheesa Collier (95 OVR/29 y/o). She gets offers from Phoenix and Dallas but takes the offer from Indiana!!


Round 2

We make 3 offers:

C Teaira McCowan - 87 OVR - 29 y/o - 3 years/945k offer is accepted.

SG/SF Ariel Atkins - 83 OVR - 29 y/o - Also 3 years/945k offer, which is accepted.

I offered a 79 rated backup PG Natasha Cloud 3 years/504k and she turns it down.


Round 3

Another PG and backup SF offer are rejected.


Full Free Agency

Updated Depth Chart:

PG: Clark (95)
SG: Carrington (86), Atkins (83), Hayes (75)
SF: Collier (95), Powers (79)
PF: Boston (90), Morgan (67)
C: McCowan (87), Mogbo (73)


With 3 signings we actually run up against the salary cap, which is a little over $2 million now.

Our cap situation for this year:

SF Collier (95) - $338k
SG Atkins (83) - $300k
C McCowan (87) - $300k
SG Carrington (86) - $294k
SG Hayes (75) - $168k
SF Powers (79) - $147k

leaving Boston/Clark/Mogbo/Morgan on rookie deals at or under $100k. We only have $59k of cap space.


Oh, Lexie Hull signs her qualifying offer too that I made. I'm either going to need to trade Carrington or Atkins I think, or Hayes/Powers and their smaller contracts.


Player Progression

Clark: +2, up to 96 OVR. Mid Range from B+ to A-, rebounding from C- to C.
Boston: +1 to 91 OVR
Powers: -1 to 78 OVR
Hull: +1 to 76 OVR
Mogbo: +2 to 75 OVR
Hayes: -3 to 72 OVR
Morgan: +4 to 71 OVR

Anyone not mentioned stayed steady.


WNBA Draft

Having the #1 pick is "huge" this year. There's a player predicted at 81 OVR, the second highest rated player is 74. Can't wait to see the improved draft class next year - I hope it isn't overboard.


1st overall pick - PF Alyssa Ramsey - 81 OVR - Her ceiling is stated as the hall of fame. That seems like a lot compared to folks coming in 85+. She's 6'4" 170 pounds out of Washington State.

I pick best available in the 2nd and 3rd round but its not worth mentioning b/c I'm not keeping either one on the roster. I only actually sign Ramsey.



Contract Status

With Hull and Ramsey we end up 152k over the cap. It seems like we're being "allowed" to play that way but I would prefer to fix that.


Trade

We trade SG Dijonai Carrington (86 OVR/age 28) to Dallas for PF Maddy Siegrist (80 OVR/25 y/o) and Dallas' #1 draft pick in 2029.

Carrington makes $294k this year, Siegrist makes $94k.


And another trade

We trade 32 y/o SF Aerial Powers (78 OVR/age 32) to Dallas for PG Odyssey Sims (74 OVR/age 33) and Dallas' 2030 2nd round pick. The salaries are even but we didn't have a backup point guard. This evens out our depth chart.

[Radii]

2026 Roster

Point Guards

Caitlin Clark - 96 OVR - 24 y/o - We all know about Clark.

Odyssey Sims - 74 OVR - 33 y/o - Poor on offense but a B+ playmaker and average defender.


Shooting Guards

Ariel Atkins - 83 OVR - 29 y/o - I didn't mention it in my last post but I chose to trade Carrington because she's not a great 3 point shooter. Atkins is a better shooter and better playmaker. Carrington was a slightly better defender. Atkins is a career 38% 3 point shooter who has averaged in double figures every year of her career so far.


Tiffany Hayes - 72 OVR - Hayes averaged 5 points/game last year and is quickly decliining. Last year of contract for her.


Small Forwards

Napheesa Collier - 95 OVR - 29 y/o - If we can't make the playoffs with Clark/Collier/Boston as our top 3 players we're cooked. Collier is the reigning MVP. She can score from everywhere, handle the ball as a small forward, and is an incredible defender.

Lexie Hull - 76 OVR - 26 y/o - We like Hull because she can defend and shoot the 3. Unfortunatley that's really all she can do, but for a cheap backup we take it.


Power Forwards

Aliyah Boston - 91 OVR - 24 y/o - 10.8 ppg/7.9 rpg last year, over 50% from the field. We love her (and I hate that I struggle to get her points in games I play).

Alyssa Ramsey - 82 OVR - 22 y/o - Ramsey will get her minutes and chances to improve. She comes in as a good all around scorer, she is even B+ from 3, a solid defender and rebounder (B+ in both).

Maddy Siegrist - 80 OVR - 25 y/o - A worse defender and rebounder than both Ramsey and Mogbo so she probably doesn't get much playing time.


Centers

Teaira McCowan - 87 OVR - 29 y/o - McCowan actually spent her first 3 years in Indiana before leaving for Dallas, she's back after 4 years with the Wings. 9.4 ppg/7.1 rpg on 57% shooting from the floor last year. I'm looking forward to having her on the floor up front alongside Boston.

Myisha Mogbo - 75 OVR - 23 y/o - last year's Rookie of the year with only 5.5 points/4 boards a game. Expect about the same. She isn't a scorer but can defend and rebound well.




Draft Class

It looks like ass again. It looks worse than last year's. Maybe that's because we haven't really scouted anyone yet. I hope. Otherwise this is going to become a serious problem.


We'll start the season - probably Monday, what with the NFL and WNBA playoffs tomorrow.

[Radii]

There are settings for "Contract Negotiation Difficulty" and "CPU Re-Signing Aggressiveness" - I wonder if I should turn up the second one, maybe turn down the effects of morale and chemistry? to try to get players to stay with their own teams a little more often.

I don't know about this, but the league is practically unrecognizable after 2 years of free agency.

[Young Drachma]

ooh I like this