DeWanna Bonner has been away from the Fever for personal reasons since June 11 and has missed five straight games.
Bonner struggled in her first few games with Indiana and was replaced in the starting lineup with Lexie Hull.
SEATTLE — DeWanna Bonner is unlikely to return to the Indiana Fever, a league source confirmed to IndyStar on Tuesday afternoon.
Front Office Sports was the first to report the news. Bonner has been away from the team for personal reasons since June 11 and has not played in four straight games for Indiana, and is expected to miss her fifth game in a row against Seattle on Tuesday night.
Bonner was a revered signing for the Fever in the offseason, choosing Indiana as just her third team in her 16-year WNBA career and following coach Stephanie White from Connecticut to Indiana. As a two-time WNBA champion and league leader in playoff game appearances, she was expected to be a veteran voice on a team with a young core.
Bonner began the season in the starting lineup, but struggled in the first few games of the season. She was then moved to the bench in place of Lexie Hull. In the nine games she has played for the Fever, Bonner was averaging 7.1 points and 3.8 rebounds in about 21 minutes per game.
Front Office Sports reported Bonner’s preferred destinations would be the Atlanta Dream or the Phoenix Mercury, but a trade could be difficult because of the size of her contract. Bonner signed with the Fever for $200,000.
The Mercury already have two players on supermax contracts of about $250,000, including Satou Sabally and Bonner’s fiance, Alyssa Thomas. Phoenix only has cap room of about $88,000, per Her Hoop Stats, and six players on minimum contracts of $66,079. A trade to Phoenix would likely necessitate the Mercury sending multiple players back to Indiana.
The same is true for Atlanta, which has just $24,000 in cap space, per Her Hoop Stats. The Dream would need to give up multiple players to trade for Bonner.
Bonner’s contract is unprotected, however, so the Fever could also waive her without any buyout or penalty. Bonner would go on the waiver wire for 48 hours, then be able to sign with any team for as low as the veteran minimum of about $78,000 once she clears waivers.
Waiving Bonner would free up about $140,000 in cap space for Indiana — she has already made about $60,000 for the 13 games she has been part of the roster.
The Fever are also expected to temporarily suspend Damiris Dantas’ contract when she leaves the team for four games between June 26-July 8 to play in the FIBA AmeriCup with the Brazilian National Team, which would give them about $9,000 extra in cap space.
Adding that onto the approximate $36,000 of space the Fever have now, Indiana could have up to about $185,000 in cap space by waiving Bonner and temporarily suspending Dantas’ contract for the games she is missing.
But if Indiana is hoping to get a suitable replacement for Bonner, it should look into a trade — even if it isn’t to one of Bonner’s preferred destinations.
Chloe Peterson is the Indiana Fever beat reporter for IndyStar. Reach her at capeterson@gannett.com or follow her on X at @chloepeterson67. Get IndyStar’s Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Caitlin Clark Fever newsletter.