“Those conversations are going to have to be had, and I’m gonna do what’s best for me,” Kelsey Mitchell had said in August this year, after Indiana Fever General Manager Lin Dunn had expressed optimism about the veteran’s future with the team. However, as Mitchell’s sights were planted on her first time being a free agent, things haven’t looked as favorable as one would hope.

However, the Fever General Manager Lin Dunn’s resolve to treat Mitchell as a priority and get her back to signing with the Indianapolis-based franchise still runs strong, especially after she contributed to helping her team qualify for the WNBA playoffs for the first time since 2016. Nonetheless, a recent update has reignited rumors regarding the 28-year-old’s departure to some other W franchise.

According to a tweet by WNBA reporter Christina Williams, Amber Cox has been named as the Fever’s Chief Operating Officer and General Manager, and will be joining the organization from October 28. As for Dunn, she will be progressing to her new role as a Senior Advisor. Cox recently served as the Chief Operating Officer of the Dallas Wings and helped them better their partnership, sales, communications, and marketing efforts. All this culminated in the Wings recording franchise best points across key parameters in the 2023 and 24-season, apart from having 7 sell-outs.

Therefore, once Cox joins the Fever, she is expected to uplift the franchise with her work and strengthen their business strategies. However, it remains to be seen if she will pursue Mitchell as passionately as Dunn. To remind you, Kelsey was picked as the second overall pick in the 2018 WNBA Draft and has stayed with the team since. For the past five seasons, the 28-year-old has been Fever’s leading scorer, averaging 17.7 points per game this season behind Caitlin Clark’s 17.8. Mitchell’s 3,651 career points are second in franchise history behind retired-Indiana Fever veteran Tamika Catchings at 7,380.

Hence, it’s understandable why Dunn would want to make Mitchell “an off-season priority”. Furthermore, she had revealed that even the new president of basketball and business operations, Kelly Krauskopf, would be taking charge of the basketball operations and hence she would be negotiating with Mitchell’s agent.

Concluding her take on the Ohio-born, Dunn had assured that “we’ll do everything we can to keep her.” But does Mitchell even want to stay?

Is Kelsey Mitchell ready to stay with the Indiana Fever?

Mitchell was drafted as the second overall pick by the Indiana Fever in the 2018 draft. Since then, she has stuck with the franchise. Previously she had a four-year contract with the team which she renewed before the 2022 season. As of now, Mitchell is once again an unrestricted free agent which has put her fans in doubt if she would be willing to continue with the Fever.

Caitlin Clark’s backcourt partner went through a tough time as she lost her father this year in March. If that wasn’t enough, the Fever looked hopeful of making it to the late stages of the playoffs, especially due to a late regular season re-emergence due to Clark’s brilliant display. However, their hopes were shattered when the Connecticut Sun defeated them in two straight games during Round 1 to hand them an early exit. A disappointed Mitchell had expressed during her exit interview that she wasn’t so sure of what lay next for her.

“It’s definitely a lot of emotions and thoughts that flow through my mind. I think everything for me is so fresh, I don’t know what I need and what I’m gonna do,” Mitchell enumerated. She further added that she has to be selfish now which did nothing but fuel the speculations of an exit from the Indiana franchise. “But I know that when the time comes and the opportunity for me to make those decisions…Obviously, I’ve always had a home in Indy, so it could potentially be a home for me again. But I think right now the switching dynamic of my family and everything, I gotta do what’s the best for me. I gotta be selfish about that process.”

All this combined with the fact that the Golden State Valkyries’ addition to the W, as an expansion franchise, will have the current W teams expose half their roster, leaves more room for thought about Mitchell’s impending decision. Hopefully, she will be able to take the best possible route. Meanwhile, only time will tell if Cox will go after her. Hopefully, for the fans, the situation will clear out in the next few months.