The Indiana Fever have waived DeWanna Bonner after they were unable to find a trade partner for the disgrunted 16-year veteran. The six-time All-Star has not played since June 10 for personal reasons, and it was unclear when — or if — she planned to return to Indianapolis. During her time away, she contemplated retirement, according to Michael Voepel ESPN.
The answer came Wednesday, following days of speculation about her future.
“I want to sincerely thank the Indiana Fever for the opportunity to be part of the Fever franchise,” Bonner said in a press release. “Despite our shared goals and excitement heading into the season, I felt the fit did not work out and I appreciate the organization’s willingness to grant my request to move on, particularly at this point in my career,” Bonner said. “I wish the Fever great success as they continue to build around this dynamic group of young players.”
In a corresponding move, the Fever have already signed up a replacement for Bonner: Aari McDonald. The former lottery pick had a three-game stint with the team earlier this season on an emergency hardship contract.
“I’m so excited to rejoin the Fever. Although my time with the team was brief, it immediately felt like the place to be,” McDonald said. “I’m grateful for the warm welcome from the coaches, teammates, and fans—and most of all, I thank God for the incredible journey I’m on.”
Now that Bonner is no longer with the Fever, let’s take a look at the fallout:
Key offseason signing never panned out
The Fever had two main goals during the offseason: add experienced players and improve their defense. By signing Bonner — the league’s all-time leader in playoff appearances with 87 and a rangy, versatile defender — they hoped to achieve both.
The move did not pan out the way they hoped. Bonner was removed from the starting lineup after three games and scored in double figures twice in nine appearances. She averaged 7.1 points and 3.8 rebounds on a career-worst 34.5% from the field.
Notably, Bonner had by far the worst on-off differential on the team. The Fever had a minus-10.2 net rating in her 192 minutes on the court and a plus-15.1 net rating in the 328 minutes she was not out there. To be fair, she spent a lot of time on the floor without Caitlin Clark, which is going to skew those numbers. Even so, she was largely ineffective, particularly on the offensive end.
The Fever gave Bonner a near-max contract with the expectation that she would play a major role in taking the team to the next level as a legitimate playoff threat. Between her poor play and extended absence, they got almost nothing from her on the court.
Losing their ‘strongest voice’
Clark and Aliyah Boston were not even 10 years old when Bonner made her professional debut in 2009. She’s won two championships, appeared in more postseason games than anyone in WNBA history and played with numerous Hall of Famers across multiple franchises. Along the way, Bonner has seen everything there is to see in this league.
That kind of experience is invaluable to a team with a young core, and even though Bonner had not played well, she made an immediate impact off the court.
“She’s experienced a lot of different things, whether it’s been teammates — playing with some of the best in the world — franchises, coaches,” coach Stephanie White said during training camp. “Having her knowledge and having her mama bear personality, it’s so important because she understands how to hold you accountable, but she understands how to love on you, too.”
“The strongest voice in our locker room is hers,” Clark said after Bonner moved into third place on the league’s all-time scoring list in their season opener. “And it’s fun to have been around her now for about a month, just to get to learn from her and soak it all in.”
Players with Bonner’s experience and leadership are not readily available in the middle of the season, and her departure is a blow to the Fever, even if the saga did not end well.
Why did Bonner want out?
Bonner’s Fever debut was highlighted by a milestone moment in which she moved into third place on the league’s all-time scoring list. Besides that, though, her first three games were extremely rough. She scored eight points on 2 of 12 from the field, and the Fever were outscored by 16 points in her 62 minutes on the court.
Ahead of their fourth game, Bonner was removed from the starting lineup for Lexie Hull. The fourth-year guard is a lights-out 3-point shooter who offers much of the same defensive effort. Since that lineup change, the Fever’s new primary starting lineup has a plus-18.7 net rating in 103 minutes.
While White’s decision to bench Bonner was clearly the correct one from a basketball perspective, it didn’t sit well with the veteran, who had expected to be a starter, per Annie Costabile of Front Office Sports.
Both Costabile’s reporting and Bonner’s own statement also mentioned the “fit” being off, but it’s unclear if that was strictly related to on-court matters, or if something else was going on behind the scenes. Regardless, Bonner was uninterested in trying to work through the situation and forced the Fever’s hand.
What happens next?
The Fever didn’t want to lose Bonner for nothing, but a trade was always going to be difficult to pull off, especially since she was reportedly dictating where she wanted to play. Per Costabile, Bonner’s preferred landing spot is the Phoenix Mercury, which is where she began her career and where her fiancée Alyssa Thomas currently plays.
Bonner was signed for $200,000, which would have been a big salary for the Mercury to acquire given their salary cap situation. Plus, the Mercury didn’t have any incentive to give up something for Bonner considering that she appears to be on her last legs and was on the verge of being waived.
The Fever were able to waive Bonner because her contract was unprotected. All they are out is her pro-rated salary, and they gained a roster spot, which they’ve already filled with McDonald.
As for where Bonner winds up, that remains to be seen. She is currently on waivers, and will remain there for 48 hours. Any team that claims her would need to have the cap space to absorb the remainder of her $200,000 contract, and only the Connecticut Sun, Golden State Valkyries and Washington Mystics currently have that much space, per Her Hoops Stats. Furthermore, Costabile reported that teams are being told not to claim Bonner on waivers.
Bonner will likely clear waivers and become an unrestricted free agent, at which point she can sign with any team for the veteran minimum. In her case, because she has more than three years of service, that would be $78,831.
While the Mercury have enough cap space ($88,103) to sign Bonner for the remainder of the season, they currently have 12 players under contract and would have to waive someone in order to free up a roster spot. Will they be willing to do so when they’re off to an 11-4 start and have terrific chemistry with their current group? It could be hard to justify to everyone not named Alyssa Thomas.
If the Mercury pass on Bonner, would she then be open to joining a different team? Despite her poor start to the season, she would likely have suitors given her track record and locker room presence. Regardless of what happens, the next few days are going to be fascinating.