On Monday, ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne and Chiney Ogwumike made the case that teams want to build around Kelsey Mitchell as a franchise player as she hits unrestricted free agency.
Mitchell, who has played all nine of her seasons with the Indiana Fever, recently said during the Indiana Fever’s exit interviews that she would put herself first and be “selfish” as she makes her decision.
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The Las Vegas Aces ended Indiana’s season for the second-straight year, winning 94-83 in Thursday’s first-round Game 3 after eliminating the Fever in the 2025 semifinals.
Will Kelsey Mitchell Remain With Caitlin Clark and Fever or Leave in Free Agency?
“This is an MVP candidate,” Shelburne said. “There are teams that would want to build around a franchise player like that. If she’s available? Whew.”
Ogwumike added that she’s a “plug-and-play player” who “can play on any team because she just fits within systems and is a tremendous scorer.”
Mitchell is coming off a career year in which she averaged 24.7 points per game and set WNBA single-season records for points and 3-pointers. In April, Mitchell signed a one-year, $1.4 million supermax deal to return to Indiana, but now her future is up in the air.
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“I have to be selfish,” Mitchell said on Saturday, explaining that she has to weigh what is best for her at this stage of her career. The Fever gave her the core designation over the past two seasons and cannot use it on her again.
Several fans replied to Shelburne and Ogwumike’s analysis, arguing that Indiana already tried building around her.
“Last time a team tried to build around her, they had the #1 pick in back-to-back years. I have grown to really like KM, but she is not a #1 player on a winning team,” one fan wrote.
The Fever used back-to-back No. 1 picks on Aliyah Boston in 2023 and Caitlin Clark in 2024. Mitchell, taken No. 2 behind A’ja Wilson in 2018, reached her first postseason in 2024, Indiana’s first playoff trip since 2016.
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“Can someone help me understand how Kelsey Mitchell wasn’t good enough to carry a franchise to the playoffs from 2018-2023 but is now? What changed?” another fan wrote.
Others said Mitchell’s series against Las Vegas hurt her stock entering free agency.
“She shot the Fever out of the playoffs shooting just 32% the entire series. Go for it,” one critic added.
Mitchell shot 4-of-16, 7-of-16, and 7-of-23 from the field in the three games, though she led Indiana with 23 points in Game 3.
Clark said after Game 3 that the Fever had made a lot of those shots throughout the year. “So if we would have ran it back, who knows, me and Kels maybe make another combined eight shots, and it’s a completely different game,” Clark said.
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Mitchell said Saturday that playing in a backcourt with Clark is something she values and will factor into her decision.
However, Mitchell also stated that the hate she gets in her direct messages is a lot, and added that Clark’s teammates take criticism just for being on her team.
“Fever and Clark fans doing our work for us! And when I say our, I mean whatever team Kelsey Mitchell (hopefully Atlanta) she decides to go to. So please you Fever fans, keep posting Kelsey Mitchell content,” another fan wrote.
Other fans were annoyed by the analysis, arguing that ESPN was trying to break up Indiana’s duo of Clark and Mitchell.
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“They are literally salivating at the thought of breaking up that duo. I can’t even believe this,” one fan added.
“They are so eager to break cc and km up 😭” another fan wrote.
“She’s meant so much to us and has obviously had, arguably, the best season in the history of our league in terms of being a scoring guard,” Fever general manager Amber Cox said.
Head coach Stephanie White called Mitchell’s free agency the Fever’s top priority, and Cox added that the goal is for Mitchell to retire in a Fever uniform.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.
