In 2022, Sue Bird took a different kind of swing at the final stage of her WNBA career. The Seattle Storm guard accepted a contract well below the league’s veteran supermax level, giving the franchise more room to keep its core together and chase another championship. Under a hard salary cap, even the biggest stars eventually run into the same question: How much is winning worth?

Caitlin Clark now finds herself facing a version of that question in Indiana. The Fever have a superstar who knows her value, an All-Star teammate heading into free agency and a roster that still has work to do after another first-round playoff exit.

For Clark, though, the answer is not simply about how much money she can make. Asked about the EPIC extension she is eligible for, Clark pointed directly toward the bigger picture.

“My focus is on winning. I certainly know what I deserve and what I’m worth, but at the same time, like sometimes you have to make sacrifices. And I’m not saying I’m not going to sign it. And I’m not saying I am going to sign it. We I haven’t got into those discussions. I haven’t even honestly given it much thought. I’ve been playing 18 holes every single day,” Clark said.

That answer may be the most revealing part of Indiana’s offseason. Clark is eligible for an extension that could significantly change her salary, but she is already thinking about what comes after the signature. The Fever need to figure out who stays, who comes in and how the roster can finally become good enough to compete for a championship.

Clark’s Contract Is Only One Piece of the Puzzle

Clark entered the WNBA in 2024 on a rookie-scale contract. Her salary was $76,535 in 2024 and $78,000 in 2025 before the league’s updated financial structure pushed her 2026 salary to $528,846.

Now, the EPIC provision gives Clark an earlier path to a major extension. A qualifying first-round pick can negotiate an extension before reaching traditional free agency, with the deal able to run for up to four additional years and reach a salary of up to 20% of the team’s cap.

But Clark made it clear that she does not view the extension as an automatic decision.

“I think it’s just kind of figuring out the way we need to construct our roster,” Clark said. “I mean, no matter what, I’m going to be here. I just want to do what’s best for the team and make sure we have the opportunity to be able to win championships. Like, that’s my main goal.”

The Fever already have one example of what that kind of thinking can look like. Aliyah Boston signed the first EPIC extension in WNBA history in April, agreeing to a four-year, $6.3 million deal. Boston’s 2026 salary was set at $1 million rather than the $1.19 million maximum available to her, leaving Indiana additional room to work with.

Boston was excited to keep building with Indiana.

“I’m super blessed and grateful for this opportunity and to continue my journey here with the Fever. God is good! I’m excited for the future ahead for both myself and for our team, and I can’t wait to keep building upon everything we have accomplished so far,” Boston said.

That precedent matters, but Clark’s situation comes with a different level of attention. Her contract is not just another offseason decision for Indiana. It is one of the biggest pieces of the franchise’s long-term plan.

And Clark knows that plan has to involve more than herself.

Clark Wants Kelsey Mitchell Back

If there is one part of the Fever’s offseason that Clark did not sound uncertain about, it is Kelsey Mitchell.

Mitchell is an unrestricted free agent after averaging 24.7 points per game in 2026, second in the WNBA. Clark averaged 22.3 points, giving Indiana the highest-scoring teammate duo in WNBA history at 47.0 points per game combined.

Clark did not hide how badly she wants that partnership to continue.

“As far as Kelsey and our future with her with the organization, I think, you know, she knows how much I love her and we’ve talked since the season has ended,” Clark said. “And, you know, there’s nobody I would want to share the back court with other than her.”

Clark went even further when discussing what Mitchell means to her game.

“I think we had the best season of any back court in the WNBA, in the league’s history, what we were able to do,” Clark said. “And I often tell her like, you know, I feel like I have the best seat in the house every single night. I get to watch you do your thing and be right next to you and be on the other side of the ball with you.”

That is not just a teammate saying she would like another teammate to return. Clark made it clear that Mitchell’s return is part of how she sees the Fever’s future.

“We’re going to work our butt off to get her back,” Clark said. “You know, we’re going to recruit her as hard as we can. Every player that is signed to a contract is going to recruit her as hard as we can. We need her. We love her.”

Clark also made the personal side of that relationship clear.

“I hope she comes back here and the arena is chanting MVP for her again because that’s what she deserves,” Clark said. “She’s been with this organization what nine years. It would be, if I’m not mistaken, 10 if we were able to sign her back.”

Then came perhaps the clearest indication of just how important Mitchell is to Clark.

“For myself, my number one priority, like I hope, you know, for the rest of my career, I get to play alongside her,” Clark said. “That’s how easy she makes my job.”

But keeping Mitchell is only part of the challenge.

The Fever Know What Needs to Improve

Indiana’s offense was good enough to make history. Its defense was not.

The Fever averaged 96.0 points per game and produced one of the strongest offensive seasons in WNBA history. But Indiana ranked 11th in defensive efficiency, with a 108.3 defensive rating. The first-round loss to Las Vegas exposed some of those problems again.

The Aces won the series 2-1. They took Game 1, 102-83, before Indiana answered with a 99-89 win in Game 2. Clark had 27 points and 15 assists in that game, while the Fever dominated the paint 58-26.

Then came Game 3.

Las Vegas blitzed Clark at half court, forced six turnovers and held her to 18 points on 6-of-18 shooting. A’ja Wilson finished with 36 points as the Aces closed out the series with a 94-83 win.

Clark herself knows where the biggest work needs to happen.

“I think obviously inconsistency was our biggest issue this year,” Clark said. “I think obviously on the defensive side we have to improve. Offensively, I mean, I feel like we can still improve a lot and we had the best offense in WNBA history.”

Then she brought it straight back to Mitchell.

“I think like obviously that kind of goes back to my point about how important it is to get Kelsey back here and continue to do that with her,” Clark said. “Like I still feel like there was areas we could all improve on offense, but I think our main focus will be defensively.”

That is the part of this offseason that could matter most.

Clark does not simply want the Fever to keep scoring. She wants them to build a roster that can hold up when the games get tougher.

“How can we construct a roster that’s going to give us a chance to be successful on the defensive side of the ball and then all of us individually becoming better defenders,” Clark said.

Clark Wants a Voice in Building That Roster

That responsibility is not something Clark plans to leave entirely to the front office.

She acknowledged that, entering her fourth season, she and Boston are becoming two of the leaders of the team.

“I think, you know, that’s the responsibility of, you know, specifically probably me and AB at this point as kind of the two leaders of this team and then obviously hopefully we get Kelsey back and she can be helping us as well,” Clark said.

Clark also explained that she and Fever general manager Amber Cox already have open conversations about potential players.

“You hear rumblings about, you know, how players are in the locker room or what they’re like to play or play with and things like that and that’s all helpful to the GM,” Clark said. “So like you share those type of things about who you think we can get or whose play style will fit next to whoever it is and what positions are most important for us to get.”

She was also careful not to overstate her role.

“I can’t say like I’m the one sitting there constructing the roster. That’s, I’m not the general manager,” Clark said. “But, you know, we do have an opinion and, you know, it’s also helpful to Kelly and Amber to hear our voices.”

And this offseason could be different.

Clark said she expects to be heavily involved in recruiting free agents, something that was less common during the previous offseason because of the league’s CBA transition.

“So, I think this offseason will be a little bit different and I’ll be very involved in that,” Clark said.

That makes her contract decision even more interesting. Clark is not simply deciding how much she wants to make. She is already thinking about the players who need to be around her.

The Face of a Franchise That Has Exploded

The financial side of the story makes that even more striking.

The Fever were valued at roughly $90 million before Clark arrived. By 2026, Sportico valued the franchise at $560 million, while all 44 regular-season games were carried nationally through television and streaming partners.

Fever general manager Amber Cox has directly connected that growth to Clark.

“She remains the tipping point. You look at the ratings and you look at the full buildings, that started in 2024 when she came into the league, and that is because of Caitlin Clark,” Cox said.

Clark’s own WNBA salary remains tiny compared with her off-court earnings, which include an eight-year, $28 million Nike deal along with partnerships with Gatorade, State Farm and Wilson.

But Clark’s comments suggest she is looking at the situation through a much wider lens.

She wants Mitchell back. She wants the defense to improve. She wants young players to develop. And she wants to help recruit free agents.

She also wants to become a better leader herself.

“I think just like leadership and my voice, like those are some of the biggest areas I can continue to improve as our point guard,” Clark said.

That growth is already influencing how she sees the offseason.

Clark said she wants to work out with young Fever players such as Raven and KK, hoping to build stronger chemistry while helping them develop.

“I think overall like just continue to enjoy it and soak it in,” Clark said. “Like I can’t believe I’m going to be starting my fourth year next year. Like that’s, it’s hard to comprehend.”

But she also knows what Indiana has in front of it.

“You know, obviously it’s really only been two seasons, but, you know, I think we have an opportunity to win championships here,” Clark said. “It’s just going back to the drawing board and figuring out how best we can do that.”

Clark Knows What She Wants

That may ultimately be the biggest takeaway from her comments about the EPIC extension.

Clark has not decided whether she will sign it. She has not even had the conversations yet.

But she has already decided what she wants the contract to help accomplish.

“My focus is on winning,” Clark said. “I certainly know what I deserve and what I’m worth, but at the same time, like sometimes you have to make sacrifices.”

For Indiana, that does not necessarily mean Clark has to take less money. The EPIC structure gives both sides room to figure out how the contract fits into the larger roster.

The harder questions are elsewhere.

Can the Fever keep Mitchell? Can they fix a defense that ranked 11th? Can they add the depth and defensive pieces they lacked against Las Vegas? Can Clark, Boston and the rest of the young core keep developing at the same time?

Clark knows she cannot answer all of those questions herself.

But she clearly wants a say in finding the answers.

And when asked what she ultimately wants from the Fever, her answer was as simple as it gets.

“No matter what, I’m going to be here. I just want to do what’s best for the team and make sure we have the opportunity to be able to win championships. Like, that’s my main goal,” Clark said.

The money will be part of the conversation.

So will Kelsey Mitchell. So will the defense. So will every roster decision Indiana makes from here.

For Clark, though, the goal is already clear.

She wants to stay in Indiana.

She wants Mitchell beside her.

And she wants the Fever to build something that can finally turn all the attention surrounding this franchise into something that matters most in October: a championship.