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Fever trade idea pairs Caitlin Clark with All-Defense Team regular
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- Fever trade idea pairs Caitlin Clark with All-Defense Team regular
Fever trade idea pairs Caitlin Clark with All-Defense Team regular originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
Despite boasting a historically efficient offense in 2026, the Indiana Fever won just one playoff game and suffered a painful first-round exit at the hands of the Las Vegas Aces .
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With Aliyah Boston and Caitlin Clark set to form part of the Fever's long-term future, Indiana's offense should remain productive for years to come. If the franchise re-signs Kelsey Mitchell in free agency, the Fever could well have the WNBA's top offense once more in 2027.
However, Indiana needs a better balance. The Fever ranked just ninth in defensive rating in 2026, and their inconsistency on that end throughout the regular season presaged their early playoff exit.
MORE: We now know what Aliyah Boston's mystery injury really was
To that end, Bleacher Report's Eric Pincus has proposed a trade that would pair Clark with a defensive ace: Ariel Atkins.
Pincus proposes that the Fever would send forward Monique Billings, a 2027 first-round pick and a 2028 second-round pick to the rebuilding Los Angeles Sparks in exchange for Atkins and a second-round pick in the 2027 draft.
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Atkins, a two-time All-Star, was an All-Defense selection in each of her first five WNBA seasons between 2018 and 2022. However, in Chicago and Los Angeles the past two seasons, the 30-year-old has posted a defensive rating of 110 or higher in each season -- and she scored a career-low 8.5 points per game in 2026.
Atkins has two years and $2 million remaining on her contract, and the Fever already has to pay Mitchell while negotiating Clark's maximum contract extension. The finances, plus the draft capital involved, could make this a challenging deal for Indiana to rationalize.
It speaks, though, to the pressing need for defensive ability in Indiana that the Fever might look into a trade for Atkins -- who can play at guard or forward and has a defensive track record that no one else in the team has.
In addition, Atkins' offensive value could improve with Clark setting her up for open looks.
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"(Atkins) shot poorly from three-point range last season (28.2 percent), but playing alongside Clark could help Atkins generate better perimeter looks—ideally getting back to the 36.1 percent she shot the year prior with the Chicago Sky ," Pincus wrote.
