Indiana Fever preseason odds, win total, and projected lineup around Caitlin Clark

The Indiana Fever surprised many last season when the short-handed Fever overcame the Atlanta Dream in the first round of the playoffs. Missing guard Caitlin Clark for all but 13 games due to a season-ending injury, the Fever’s ability to push the eventual champion Las Vegas Aces to a fifth game in the semifinals showed that coach Stephanie White’s team has legit star quality in Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston.

With Clark back in the lineup and rested, oddsmakers are projecting a big improvement for this year’s Indiana Fever. FanDuel has odds on WNBA season-long over/unders, and they project the Fever to win 30.5 games this regular season.

Thirty-one wins represents the second-highest projected over/under win total, tied with the Las Vegas Aces, and two fewer than projected for the reloaded New York Liberty. The Fever finished last season in sixth place overall at 24-20. They went 8-5 when Clark was healthy, for a 27-win pace. There’s little room for error in a 44-game schedule, but the Fever should be favored in around 25 games, and they have the combination of talent and coaching to be competitive in all the rest.

The Fever will always take their opponent’s best shot because of the extra media attention that Clark brings. But if Mitchell and Boston can continue the momentum they built in last season’s playoff run, they have the pieces in place to finish among the league’s very top teams.

The Fever made sure to return their big three of Clark, Mitchell, and Boston. They also held onto guards Lexie Hull and Sophie Cunningham, but some of the team’s depth will be new faces.

Indiana lost two key bench contributors when Natasha Howard signed with the Minnesota Lynx and Brianna Turner signed with the Las Vegas Aces. They also lost two players in the WNBA expansion draft, with Chloe Bibby going to the Portland Fire and Kristy Wallace getting selected by the Toronto Tempo.

Those minutes will likely go to a combination of offseason additions. Indiana signed veteran two-way forwards Monique Billings and Myisha Hines-Allen as free agents, and they used their top draft pick on four-year South Carolina product Raven Johnson. Justine Pissott (Vanderbilt) and Jessica Timmons (Alabama) round out a draft class with a clear focus on shooting.