Angel Reese #5 pats Caitlin Clark #22 of Team WNBA on the back during the 2024 WNBA All Star Game on July 20, 2024 at Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona© Photo by Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images
The Indiana Fever’s commitment to surrounding Caitlin Clark with veterans and defensive stars continues.
On Sunday, the Fever signed Brianna Turner to a contract, though it remains to be seen what kind of contract the 28-year-old received from Indiana. Of note, Turner was teammates with Angel Reese on the Chicago Sky last season, playing in 27 games and averaged 1.2 points and 2.0 rebounds in just over nine minutes of action per game.
Turner also was teammates with two of the Fever’s new additions on the Phoenix Mercury: Sophie Cunningham and DeWanna Bonner. Turner was a teammate of Cunningham’s when the Mercury made it to the 2021 WNBA Finals, losing to the Chicago Sky in four games.
The 6-foot-3 forward provides a defensive presence for the Fever, having earned two All-Defensive First Team nods in back-to-back years in 2020 and 2021. Turner should also see more playing time playing under Stephanie White, as she was sat behind Kamilla Cardoso and Reese.
Turner’s addition marks another move the Fever front office has done to shore up the roster around Clark and Aliyah Boston, especially as Indiana bolsters its team ahead of the season. The Fever recently traded for Cunningham, as part of a massive four-team trade that saw NaLyssa Smith dealt to the Dallas Wings, and signed Natasha Howard, Bonner and Sydney Colson.
Colson, Bonner and Howard have won seven combined championships, showing just how much Indiana is investing in veterans for the upcoming season.
Brianna Turner #21 of the Chicago Sky shoots the ball during the game against the Atlanta Dream on September 17, 2024 at Gateway Center Arena at College Park in Atlanta, Georgia© Photo by Adam Hagy/NBAE via Getty Images
For Cunningham, the newest Fever star already has made it clear how she feels about playing alongside Clark next season. Speaking on the ‘Sports and Shenanigans’ podcast, the two-way star explained how she is approaching the upcoming season, next to a star in Clark.
“I will be her Sabrina Carpenter any day, to her Taylor Swift,” Cunningham said on the podcast. “Like, I am so excited for this. I just think, honestly, she’s just a great human too. She has a lot of pressure and a lot of eyes on her shoulders, and she handles it so gracefully, and she’s just a great human. So I’m just excited to be a part of something like that, and she passes the ball, which I enjoy.”
Clark also shared her excitement with the pieces the Fever have brought in to bolster their chances next season. “I’m really excited. I think Kelly [Krauskopf] and Amber [Cox] have done a really good job of finding pieces that fit,” she said of the moves Indiana has made in the offseason.
“It makes me excited about the future. Obviously, with Steph and her staff coming in here and my ability to work out with Keith [Porter] all off-season has been really fun. But it’s been fun, I got to work out with DB [DeWanna Bonner] and as some off-season leagues and overseas stuff kind of wraps up, a lot of them will start getting back.
“And I think it will be a lot of fun to get in the gym and be with my teammates and just start putting the pieces together and seeing what works, what doesn’t work. But I think we’re going to have a lot of different options to do a lot of different things, and I think that’s what super exciting about it all.”
