The narrative around Sophie Cunningham’s value to the Indiana Fever has officially flipped. What was once criticized as a costly trade is now being hailed as a front-office steal, but one insider believes the team got away with an even bigger bargain.
With Cunningham’s new contract, Fever insider Tony East believes the team may have pulled off a smart piece of business. “I was pretty surprised,” he said, speaking on the April 16 episode of his Indiana coverage podcast. “Getting Cunningham on a one-year, $665,000 protected deal, I thought she’d fetch more than that in free agency myself.” And that might not be far from the truth, especially considering Cunningham’s performance last season as a core part of the team.
Last season, Sophie Cunningham didn’t just shoot 43.2% from deep, she led the entire WNBA in true shooting percentage. She finished the year averaging 8.6 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. She also posted a career-high 46.9% from the field and knocked down 87.5% of her free throws. So for sure, she had massive leverage entering free agency, and on paper, she could have commanded a much bigger payday from another franchise.
Under the WNBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), team salary caps jumped from $1.5 million to $7 million. And the average player salary climbed north of $500,000. So of course, landing a premier, elite floor-spacer like Sophie Cunningham at just $665,000 looks like a highly cost-effective bargain. As East put it, “That’s good business for the Fever.”
Sophie Cunningham had, however, earlier expressed a desire for a bigger, multi-year contract. Specifically, during an October 31 episode of her Show Me Something podcast, she said, “I think the next team I play for, I want a bigger contract. So then I can buy a house and be homey and cozy.” This one-year, $665,000 deal definitely goes directly against her desire.
However, it seems quite understandable. Getting Sophie Cunningham to agree to a one-year placeholder was an attempt to manage the salary cap. In fact, analysts have linked this contract decision to the fact that Aliyah Boston and Caitlin Clark both qualify for massive salary spikes over the next two off seasons. So, the Fever are only handing out a one-year placeholder to Sophie Cunningham because they need significant portions of their hard cap clear for those incoming extensions.
Regardless, Sophie Cunningham’s $665,000 deal is still a massive bump compared to what she earned previously before the new CBA. Last season, she played on a one-year deal that paid her exactly $100,000. This new contract is more than six times that figure. In fact, with this deal, she will earn more in the 2026 WNBA season than she did across her first six full years in the league combined.
Breaking Down the Fever Roster Under the $7 million Salary Cap
The new CBA has obviously brought significant changes to the WNBA salary structure. And with the $7 million salary cap, the Indiana Fever got quite busy in free agency, making a number of new additions as well as re-signings. But of course, they made sure to keep their core three of Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston, and Kelsey Mitchell intact.
Like Sophie Cunningham, Kelsey Mitchell also signed a one-year contract. However, she secured a supermax deal worth $1.4 million. Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston, on the other hand, are still on their initial rookie contracts. However, the brand-new CBA forced their salaries to automatically skyrocket to $528,846 and $574,612 respectively.
The Fever have also retained Lexie Hull and Sophie Cunningham, who are also core to the team. However, unlike Cunningham’s one-year $665,000 deal, Hull got a two-year contract that will earn her $765,000 this year.
Apart from the core group, the Fever also brought in Monique Billings from the Toronto Tempo. She signed a two-year contract that earns her $800,000 this season. They also brought in Tyasha Harris on a one-year deal worth $400,000 and signed Shatori Walker-Kimbrough. Myisha Hines-Allen is on a contract estimated to be worth at least $300,000. Lastly, Damiris Dantas joined on a two-year deal that will earn her $277,500 this season.
From the draft, the Fever brought in South Carolina’s Raven Johnson with their highest pick, earning a rookie contract of $289,133. They also selected Justine Pissott and Jessica Timmons, each on rookie deals of $270,000. Overall, the Indiana Fever have used approximately $5,688,458 of their $7,000,000 salary cap for the 2026 season. There may, however, still be more additions to make.
