Tough Blow for the Fever: Colson and McDonald Out for the Season
The Indiana Fever suffered a setback this Friday, with the news that guards Sydney Colson and Aari McDonald will not be able to play the rest of the 2025 WNBA season due to injuries. Indiana, which was already without Caitlin Clark, who injured her right thigh on July 15, now has only nine players available for Saturday’s game against the Chicago Sky. Both Colson and McDonald suffered season-ending injuries on Thursday in a lopsided loss against Phoenix. Colson suffered a torn ACL in his left knee in the first quarter, while McDonald suffered a fracture in a bone in his right foot during the final quarter. With five weeks remaining in the regular season, the Fever have a 17-14 record and are in fifth place in the WNBA standings. The top eight teams advance to the postseason. This is the impact of injuries in the Indiana base area, the Fever’s starting five and their playoff hopes.What does this mean for the Fever’s playoff and title aspirations?
The 2025 season has been a rollercoaster for the Fever, with injuries, on-court inconsistency, and the mid-season departure of DeWanna Bonner. This seems to be the final blow and, perhaps, the most devastating. Both Colson and McDonald are very well-liked by their teammates. McDonald was a brilliant mid-season addition for an Indiana team looking for depth at the point guard position, and she brought defensive energy that the team desperately needed. Colson, even with fewer minutes, brought similar qualities and, most importantly, championship experience to surround the young core of the Fever. The Fever had begun to find their rhythm with five straight wins before recent losses to the Sparks and Mercury. McDonald, in particular, was crucial to that new identity. But now, Indiana will have to pivot again to find help at the point guard position, even when Clark returns. It will be a difficult task to find someone who is as impactful and fits as well as McDonald did. At their best and with all their players healthy, the Fever still have a solid six: Clark, Kelsey Mitchell, Aliyah Boston, Natasha Howard, Sophie Cunningham, and Lexie Hull, including one of the league’s best trios in Clark, Mitchell, and Boston. But with doubts about Clark’s health (when she will return and how she will play when she does), and now concerns about who will be behind her, the Fever’s margin for error for a deep playoff run has been considerably reduced, while teams like the Lynx, Liberty, Mercury, and Storm made mid-season moves that gave them more depth heading into the playoffs.How will the Fever’s starting five look? How will the backcourt zone adjust?
For now, Mitchell, Cunningham, and Hull, the only remaining bases of the team, will have even more responsibility. The Fever could include Hull in the starting five alongside Mitchell, Cunningham, Howard, and Boston, and hope that Mitchell and Cunningham can handle the ball-handling duties in the short term. Indiana will seek to incorporate a player due to difficulties, but can only do so after one or more players miss a game. That means the incorporation of a new player to the Fever could be for Tuesday’s game against Dallas. If there’s any consolation, it’s that the Fever’s next schedule is quite favorable. They will host three consecutive games against teams in the bottom quarter of the standings (the Chicago Sky, with similar injury problems, on Saturday, Dallas on Tuesday, and Washington next Friday) before traveling to Connecticut, which is in last place, in a week.Who will the Fever try to sign?
It’s not ideal to have to incorporate a new player two-thirds of the way through the season, especially a point guard who would have the task of directing the offense. Even less ideal, the Fever are looking to make this move just hours after the trade deadline. But Indiana has no other option at this point. There are a few free agents who could be logical candidates: Jaylyn Sherrod was recently cut by the Liberty to make room for Emma Meesseman. Grace Berger, the Fever’s No. 7 draft pick in 2023, is currently with the Wings on her third seven-day contract, and must be signed to a contract for the rest of the season or be released, which could play in the Fever’s favor. Indiana could also look to sign a more experienced point guard, such as Odyssey Sims or Shey Peddy, both players who last played in the league for the Sparks last June.What is the latest information on when Caitlin Clark might return?
Clark has been limited to rehabilitation and individual training and has not yet returned to team activities. Even when that happens, he would presumably need time to return to playing 5-on-5. Therefore, there is no indication that Clark’s return is imminent.Do these injuries change Clark’s timeline? There wasn’t as much urgency for her to return a few days ago, when Indiana was on a five-game winning streak. But the team has also insisted that Clark’s long-term health is of paramount importance, so the organization could choose to take advantage of McDonald and Colson’s absence and manage with the players it has available, including the new additions next week.
