I'm thinking Nalyssa is going to be gone, and if they get someone like Satou Sabally as a replacement then she is a MUST for protection. The Fever gets to protect six, Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell, and Aliyah Boston are set in stone. Whoever replaces Nalyssa Smith will almost assuredly be a must protect. Lexi Hull is probably a must protect. This leaves Grace Berger, Temi Fanbengle, or Katie Lou Samuelson as the sixth person.
@daithi1966 I disagree. If the Dalla Wings core Satou, there is no promise that they will accept the trade. Unless, there is already a negotiation about that (I doubt it because Satou has not been cores) everything is in the air. So the Fever would be protecting someone that is not beneficial to them for a trade that might not happen. I still think the idea of protecting Nalyssa for the trade value is a mistake. First because she is not that valuable considering that is most talented position in the league. Second, it is too uncertain. The Fever must protect thinking what is best for their interests now.
@@daithi1966 well the problem with this line of thinking is the six to protect happens long before trades are allowed to take place. The Valkyrie player selections happen next Friday (December 6th?). Trades and contract stuff happens starting in January if I’m not mistaken.
Berger could be CC's Kate for the Fever. We've recently seen that CC challenged her for a golf match. So perhaps she sees it as well and wants to develop that friendship that leads to on-court chemistry.
it's a travesty if they protect temi who averaged 2 pts a game, dropped easy passes from clark, and missed so many easy layups it was embarrassing. Also, if the new fever management think someone is going to trade for Nylassa smith, they must be insane.
I have been following Grace Berger in the Turkey league. She is doing awesome. She is showing that she can spot KM and CC22 when they need a rest. I look at it this way: Protect Grace and let NS go. It is a win-win scenario. Fever gets a good player who can contribute, and they get rid of a player who doesn't fit in.
Grace Berger is not doing "awesome." In the Turkish League Grace is playing 35 minutes a game: 13 points a game, 4 assists per game and just under 3 turnovers a game and 25% from 3-pt range. It is her making 19 of 20 free throws that is keeping her from drowning.
Mick brings up the Turkish league. Grace Berger in the Turkish league: Grace is playing 35 minutes a game: 13 points a game, 4 assists per game and just under 3 turnovers a game. Her shooting percentages are 44% from 2-pt and 25 from 3-pt. It is her making 19 of 20 free throws that is keeping her from drowning. What am I missing?
I don't think Smith's trade value is as high as the fever are hyping themselves up to believe. Protect Berger over Smith her trade value will be just as good if you go that route.
100% the valks will take Grace if the fever dont protect her. Grace could rep CC KM and LH which would put her play time up to like 20 mins per game next season.
Kelly, Amber and Steph ain't attending their first rodeo. I trust them to read the lay of the land better than a Mick 🤣(Fahey is an Irish surname btw).
Temi is a good vet too. The Fever front office put emphasis on wanting vets in the locker room to complement the young talent. Temi has already shown great chemistry with the existing players. They could gamble and sign a different vet but you can’t guarantee chemistry.
Grace is basically a backup. But her contract value is the best of the other players. Temi won't be protected. Grace will be protected. They can easily replace or match Temi's production and GSV won't pick her anyway because they have no use for it.
You are on the money Mick,I have been talking up Grace Berger all season. Christie Hopeless sat her on the bench all season when she should have been getting minutes while CC and KM were taking time out of the game.. she has to be protected! I don’t think GS will pick Temi as she is, as you state 32 and had injures during most of this year. When she did come back after the break she wasn’t the player she was in the early part of the season as Lexie, Kelsey and AB had also learned how to run the floor for Caitlin’s outlet passes. Please protect Grace 🙏
Nalyssa Smith was the #2 overall pick in 2022 draft. She was great at Baylor and in the 2023 WNBA season posted 15.5pts, 9.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 47.7%from the field and started every game.Lyss is very valuable. There seemed to be a problem in 2024 with Sides that affected everyone. Maybe Nalyssa can straighten out under a new coach and if not she has great trade value.
I love the Irish. However, when they say 30. Turty or 3 tree. I can just imagine being 5yrs old in school and hearing a teacher say, tree, turty. It's just funny
If Temi stays healthy, I think she could make a much bigger difference next year than Grace, and I think the Fever plan to do a lot of winning next year and be a top 4 team. Even with the team they had last year, if you project their 61% winning record after their 1-8 start, that would be 27 wins in a 44-game season, and hopefully they can improve the roster and see young players like LH and AB and CC take a step forward. A slightly ambitious but realistic goal for the Fever is to win 30 games next year, win a 1st round playoff series, and be competitive in the 2nd round. Don't forget they'll have a far superior coach as well. I think there is a goal to win now and compete for a championship in 2 - 3 years. The more they win next year, the more recruiting to the team will get stronger for the year beyond. We've seen how much a healthy Temi can contribute, but Grace is still a question mark. Playing behind Caitlin, Grace may not have that much value.
We don’t know what Saxton, Berger and even Taylor (When she was with the Fever) because they barely played for the Fever and when they did it was in situation where either they had a commanding lead or they were playing in lost causes that was because Christie Sides was a poor head coach and was not very efficient at testing every single one of their players. How often did we have Wheeler, Wallace, Samuelson, Smith not playing in the most favourable situation for their skill set.
I think indie is being greedy. They have money to spare so why protect nalyssa? I understand she was a high draft pick in 2020 & indie has 1 more year contract with her but nalyssa isnt working out with indie. Same as how mabretly didnt mesh with sky. Just let her go. Keep grace burger!! Also protecting temi is insane. Indie wont get good picks for a few years as they will place high in szn rankings, so losing any young talent is beyond crazy. Another reason to keep grace.
Fever isn’t making a mistake. We don’t need another point guard, Grace can go somewhere else. She’s not that valuable to the Fever. We can’t risk losing Temi though and she is better than Grace.
Teme is also proven to be not durable look how many games she missed this year. I agree protect Berger , she is good player , solid ball handler and shooter and should get minutes.
I would protect Grace and not Temi. I’m not saying Grace is better but she’s younger and less expensive. I also don’t think they will take Temi, she’s too old for an expansion team and she isn’t a big name. Grace is for sure getting taken because teams need PGs, they are in short supply in the WNBA.
Something else to consider, Kelsey is 29 and while she’s been injury free (so far as I know), eventually age will catch up to her. Also, Kelsey has been putting up solid numbers for years so with the new CBA she may get too expensive! Having Grace as a back up may not be such a bad thing! We still don’t know what Grace can do cuz Sides never gave her the chance!
About those golden 4 year rookie player contracts... Indiana Fever is the team that doesn't need it. They have the MVP (no not the _awarded_ MVP, but the *_real_* MVP), so they sell out the arena every time, with extortionary ticket prices. I like Temi and Nalyssa staying, as long as they really want to. I think their problems, in as way as they had, were injuries and not trusting Christy Sides (let's face it, Sides was a beginner at this). There is the social weak side of Nalyssa and her brother and Carrrington, but I'm on that side that always trust such things will be fixed. Berger is a jewel and you definitely want to keep her. But who to exchange? That's always the old question, always. (Though in terms of the '24 Olympic selection, it wasn't. There were at least 3, even 5 players, on that team that I would exchange for Clark in a heartbeat.)
If the Fever protect Smith it will show that the new Coach does not understand this team. I gave N'Alyssa every benefit of the doubt until the eyepoke video....she must be gone from this team in my opinion. Berger is a non-factor on any team.
No she is not fully developed yet and the Fever are aiming for a championship. That said I don't think Smith should be protected. Wallace has had some experience now and if she can make open layups &3's she could be useful. Both Grace Berger and Wallace struggle with shooting. Only thing grace is a good passer but that will be taken out by scouts reporting on her.
The Fever can get HVL in the 2nd rd to be the future backup point & she’s better than Grace. No matter how well HVL plays her size will make her a 2nd pick. They may need to trade up to top of second rd but easy enough to do get her. Fever Fans are crazy thinking GS is going pick the any of the Fever bench players who mist of them suck 😂 I don’t think they pick any of the Fever starters unprotected players unless it’s Smith. There are better players on the other team to choose from IMO
They aren’t coring anyone, they just need to protect 6 players from getting taken by the Valkyries. They get to choose 1 of 6 unprotected but they can choose to take none. Remember they get to “steal” 12 WNBA players and they also get players from the draft and they can only keep 12 players total.
@@ericMT Sorry for the confusion. I was using core the same as "protecting" so I was saying I don't think they wanted to "protect another PG since CC plays 35m a game at PG.
I think DROP CC's min/game (as with GSW Steph Curry) to under 25 would be the most powerful move. THEN backup PG would be the significant role. If can run the CC "system" for her
Yes sir .. I wish they could protect 7, too. In a way, .. it's a nice problem to have, .. revealing the depth of the present Fever team. Steph? .. please shelter Grace.
Please Indiana. Please protect her. Listen to the fans. Risk Fagbenle and just pray that Golden State doesn’t pick her. That’s the way to play this. I don’t want Celeste Taylor 2.0 to happen.
risk Fagbenle? christ, they should drive her to golden state themselves & they should take nylassa smith as well. This clown thinks that nylassa smith actually has trade value, when she is a pain in the arse who thinks she should be playing 40 minutes a game.
Why do they need to protect Grace Berger, she’ll never start she’s CC backup at best. Guards are a dime a dozen, odds are the Fever will get one in FA and draft at least 1. Even Golden State in their expansion draft is going to have a hard time finding wings, forwards and centers. Samuelson and Dantas may be more valuable to Golden State than Berger.
Samuelson will cost 180k in 2025 and Dantas will cost 100k in 2025. Those are steep prices for average players. GSV will not touch them. Berger is CC's back up. That is why you keep her. Sides was a idiot for not giving CC a rest. Wheeler will be gone hopefully.
Neither player will put a dent in GS salary cap, you actually want a few of those players to eat cap but have no obligation to beyond this year as an expansion team, that way you are ready next draft and FA. You can’t pick just on best contract or player, you need to build a somewhat competitive team cause your trying to build a fan base. You can’t have a team full of guards and win 5 games and hope fans will come back. Especially in a city with Steph Curry in it.
Wishing the best for Grace. She has better opportunities elsewhere. If she stays with the Fever, she'll ride the bench for most of the season again, because Caitlin doesn't like to be off the court. I believe it's smart not to protect her, because they need to protect Fagbenle for defense and height.
I think the allure of Temi is she seemed to gel with CC early on. But if Indiana is hell bent on protecting Smith and the sixth spot comes down to Temi or Grace - the logical move is to protect Grace. Grace is younger Grace will cost less Grace I think is more needed Temi has shown to be injury prone It’s a shame Sides screwed this team up and we didn’t get to see what Grace or Victoria could do.
The problem is not Temi, it is Nalyssa, forget about the trade value, she is not valuable for the Fever, Grace is. Protect Grace instead of Nalyssa
1000% 👍👍👍
I'm thinking Nalyssa is going to be gone, and if they get someone like Satou Sabally as a replacement then she is a MUST for protection. The Fever gets to protect six, Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell, and Aliyah Boston are set in stone. Whoever replaces Nalyssa Smith will almost assuredly be a must protect. Lexi Hull is probably a must protect. This leaves Grace Berger, Temi Fanbengle, or Katie Lou Samuelson as the sixth person.
@daithi1966 I disagree. If the Dalla Wings core Satou, there is no promise that they will accept the trade. Unless, there is already a negotiation about that (I doubt it because Satou has not been cores) everything is in the air. So the Fever would be protecting someone that is not beneficial to them for a trade that might not happen. I still think the idea of protecting Nalyssa for the trade value is a mistake. First because she is not that valuable considering that is most talented position in the league. Second, it is too uncertain. The Fever must protect thinking what is best for their interests now.
@@daithi1966 well the problem with this line of thinking is the six to protect happens long before trades are allowed to take place.
The Valkyrie player selections happen next Friday (December 6th?). Trades and contract stuff happens starting in January if I’m not mistaken.
Smith frankly is not worth protecting. Hoping for a trade is just too much a gamble to get stuck with her next year.
Berger could be CC's Kate for the Fever. We've recently seen that CC challenged her for a golf match. So perhaps she sees it as well and wants to develop that friendship that leads to on-court chemistry.
Absolutely protect Berger ❤
I haven't been happy about this at all, I really wish they protect Grace...
It would be a travesty if the Fever does not protect Berger.
it's a travesty if they protect temi who averaged 2 pts a game, dropped easy passes from clark, and missed so many easy layups it was embarrassing. Also, if the new fever management think someone is going to trade for Nylassa smith, they must be insane.
You do realize that even if a player isn’t protected that doesn’t guarantee that she will be taken by the valkyries don’t you?
@@Sevon-g4dWhy take the risk? Protect her.
I have been following Grace Berger in the Turkey league. She is doing awesome. She is showing that she can spot KM and CC22 when they need a rest. I look at it this way: Protect Grace and let NS go. It is a win-win scenario. Fever gets a good player who can contribute, and they get rid of a player who doesn't fit in.
Grace Berger is not doing "awesome." In the Turkish League Grace is playing 35 minutes a game: 13 points a game, 4 assists per game and just under 3 turnovers a game and 25% from 3-pt range. It is her making 19 of 20 free throws that is keeping her from drowning.
Mick brings up the Turkish league. Grace Berger in the Turkish league: Grace is playing 35 minutes a game: 13 points a game, 4 assists per game and just under 3 turnovers a game. Her shooting percentages are 44% from 2-pt and 25 from 3-pt. It is her making 19 of 20 free throws that is keeping her from drowning. What am I missing?
And Temi in the twenties. Big difference and Temi’s defense is better!😊
I don't think Smith's trade value is as high as the fever are hyping themselves up to believe. Protect Berger over Smith her trade value will be just as good if you go that route.
100% the valks will take Grace if the fever dont protect her. Grace could rep CC KM and LH which would put her play time up to like 20 mins per game next season.
Kelly, Amber and Steph ain't attending their first rodeo. I trust them to read the lay of the land better than a Mick 🤣(Fahey is an Irish surname btw).
Temi is a good vet too. The Fever front office put emphasis on wanting vets in the locker room to complement the young talent.
Temi has already shown great chemistry with the existing players.
They could gamble and sign a different vet but you can’t guarantee chemistry.
I hope Grace is on the Fever next year, but it is likely they can get more in trade for Smith than Grace is worth.
You didn't hear how Grace did overseas, did you?
Grace is basically a backup. But her contract value is the best of the other players. Temi won't be protected.
Grace will be protected. They can easily replace or match Temi's production and GSV won't pick her anyway because they have no use for it.
You are on the money Mick,I have been talking up Grace Berger all season. Christie Hopeless sat her on the bench all season when she should have been getting minutes while CC and KM were taking time out of the game.. she has to be protected! I don’t think GS will pick Temi as she is, as you state 32 and had injures during most of this year. When she did come back after the break she wasn’t the player she was in the early part of the season as Lexie, Kelsey and AB had also learned how to run the floor for Caitlin’s outlet passes. Please protect Grace 🙏
Nalyssa Smith was the #2 overall pick in 2022 draft. She was great at Baylor and in the 2023 WNBA season posted 15.5pts, 9.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 47.7%from the field and started every game.Lyss is very valuable. There seemed to be a problem in 2024 with Sides that affected everyone. Maybe Nalyssa can straighten out under a new coach and if not she has great trade value.
I love the Irish. However, when they say 30. Turty or 3 tree. I can just imagine being 5yrs old in school and hearing a teacher say, tree, turty. It's just funny
Yes! Look at her arms! She has height size and skill.
Temi has been injury prone and is replaceable.
If Temi stays healthy, I think she could make a much bigger difference next year than Grace, and I think the Fever plan to do a lot of winning next year and be a top 4 team. Even with the team they had last year, if you project their 61% winning record after their 1-8 start, that would be 27 wins in a 44-game season, and hopefully they can improve the roster and see young players like LH and AB and CC take a step forward. A slightly ambitious but realistic goal for the Fever is to win 30 games next year, win a 1st round playoff series, and be competitive in the 2nd round. Don't forget they'll have a far superior coach as well. I think there is a goal to win now and compete for a championship in 2 - 3 years. The more they win next year, the more recruiting to the team will get stronger for the year beyond. We've seen how much a healthy Temi can contribute, but Grace is still a question mark. Playing behind Caitlin, Grace may not have that much value.
We don’t know what Saxton, Berger and even Taylor (When she was with the Fever) because they barely played for the Fever and when they did it was in situation where either they had a commanding lead or they were playing in lost causes that was because Christie Sides was a poor head coach and was not very efficient at testing every single one of their players. How often did we have Wheeler, Wallace, Samuelson, Smith not playing in the most favourable situation for their skill set.
I think indie is being greedy. They have money to spare so why protect nalyssa? I understand she was a high draft pick in 2020 & indie has 1 more year contract with her but nalyssa isnt working out with indie. Same as how mabretly didnt mesh with sky. Just let her go. Keep grace burger!!
Also protecting temi is insane. Indie wont get good picks for a few years as they will place high in szn rankings, so losing any young talent is beyond crazy. Another reason to keep grace.
Forget about trade bait for Smith. The cats out of the bag. Traitor. No one will want her. Save Berger while you can.
decent PG seems pretty rare in wnba if you ask me, and id say grace can start on most teams
Fever should protect CC, Michel, Boson, Lexi, Berger, Katie.......and go to free agent : Satoe & Neka.....for the rookie 2025 : Lucy Olsen
Fever isn’t making a mistake. We don’t need another point guard, Grace can go somewhere else. She’s not that valuable to the Fever. We can’t risk losing Temi though and she is better than Grace.
Temi has been injured multiple times. I prefer Grace Berger over Temi.
tell me what exactly temi has done that makes her worth keeping? averaging 2pts a game? dropping easy passes or the missed lay ups.
If the fever don't play Grace then set her Free. Tami can't stay healthy a full season.
Teme is also proven to be not durable look how many games she missed this year. I agree protect Berger , she is good player , solid ball handler and shooter and should get minutes.
Who even says those were the six players we are protecting. Grace was Miss Indiana basketball like Stephanie was
Very insightful! Thanks for your opinion.
I would protect Grace and not Temi. I’m not saying Grace is better but she’s younger and less expensive. I also don’t think they will take Temi, she’s too old for an expansion team and she isn’t a big name. Grace is for sure getting taken because teams need PGs, they are in short supply in the WNBA.
Something else to consider, Kelsey is 29 and while she’s been injury free (so far as I know), eventually age will catch up to her. Also, Kelsey has been putting up solid numbers for years so with the new CBA she may get too expensive! Having Grace as a back up may not be such a bad thing!
We still don’t know what Grace can do cuz Sides never gave her the chance!
About those golden 4 year rookie player contracts... Indiana Fever is the team that doesn't need it. They have the MVP (no not the _awarded_ MVP, but the *_real_* MVP), so they sell out the arena every time, with extortionary ticket prices.
I like Temi and Nalyssa staying, as long as they really want to. I think their problems, in as way as they had, were injuries and not trusting Christy Sides (let's face it, Sides was a beginner at this). There is the social weak side of Nalyssa and her brother and Carrrington, but I'm on that side that always trust such things will be fixed. Berger is a jewel and you definitely want to keep her. But who to exchange? That's always the old question, always. (Though in terms of the '24 Olympic selection, it wasn't. There were at least 3, even 5 players, on that team that I would exchange for Clark in a heartbeat.)
As they can only core so many it's hard to make a decision on who to keep
If the Fever protect Smith it will show that the new Coach does not understand this team. I gave N'Alyssa every benefit of the doubt until the eyepoke video....she must be gone from this team in my opinion. Berger is a non-factor on any team.
They can probably get a backup point guard in the draft if they're not going to play anyway
Nothing berger
I don't care if you're a Grace Berger supporter or not, that was a good pun.
Let the coach make her decision, unless you want to take over as the team's coach😊
I agree with you, keep Grace, and Smith was toxic…
No she is not fully developed yet and the Fever are aiming for a championship. That said I don't think Smith should be protected. Wallace has had some experience now and if she can make open layups &3's she could be useful. Both Grace Berger and Wallace struggle with shooting. Only thing grace is a good passer but that will be taken out by scouts reporting on her.
The Fever can get HVL in the 2nd rd to be the future backup point & she’s better than Grace. No matter how well HVL plays her size will make her a 2nd pick. They may need to trade up to top of second rd but easy enough to do get her.
Fever Fans are crazy thinking GS is going pick the any of the Fever bench players who mist of them suck 😂 I don’t think they pick any of the Fever starters unprotected players unless it’s Smith. There are better players on the other team to choose from IMO
CC plays 35m a game. I think they didn't want to core another PG.
They aren’t coring anyone, they just need to protect 6 players from getting taken by the Valkyries. They get to choose 1 of 6 unprotected but they can choose to take none. Remember they get to “steal” 12 WNBA players and they also get players from the draft and they can only keep 12 players total.
@@ericMT Sorry for the confusion. I was using core the same as "protecting" so I was saying I don't think they wanted to "protect another PG since CC plays 35m a game at PG.
I think DROP CC's min/game (as with GSW Steph Curry) to under 25 would be the most powerful move. THEN backup PG would be the significant role. If can run the CC "system" for her
Yes sir .. I wish they could protect 7, too. In a way, .. it's a nice problem to have, .. revealing the depth of the present Fever team. Steph? .. please shelter Grace.
I’m sure they know what they are doing lol.
Really?
Pffft
Please Indiana. Please protect her. Listen to the fans. Risk Fagbenle and just pray that Golden State doesn’t pick her. That’s the way to play this. I don’t want Celeste Taylor 2.0 to happen.
risk Fagbenle? christ, they should drive her to golden state themselves & they should take nylassa smith as well. This clown thinks that nylassa smith actually has trade value, when she is a pain in the arse who thinks she should be playing 40 minutes a game.
Smith's trade value still zero.
Fever did this as a bait and you (the media) took it.
Oh, that's a good Idea get rid of all your point guards.
I don't like this at all 😢
Whos better Berger or Sexton?
🍔‼️
She is Valkerie bait
YES! She is adorably cute
Idk about that but she has the 💪 and doesn’t play around
Sorry mick, we’ve seen Berger and she’s a lot of work.. fever are trying to win this coming year.
Smith is the enemy.
Why do they need to protect Grace Berger, she’ll never start she’s CC backup at best. Guards are a dime a dozen, odds are the Fever will get one in FA and draft at least 1. Even Golden State in their expansion draft is going to have a hard time finding wings, forwards and centers. Samuelson and Dantas may be more valuable to Golden State than Berger.
I doubt Golden State will be willing to eat Samuelson's big contract. I hope Golden State takes Dantas.
Samuelson will cost 180k in 2025 and Dantas will cost 100k in 2025. Those are steep prices for average players. GSV will not touch them. Berger is CC's back up. That is why you keep her. Sides was a idiot for not giving CC a rest. Wheeler will be gone hopefully.
Katie Lou is who the Fever want golden state to take. And there is just no way they are going to do that.
Neither player will put a dent in GS salary cap, you actually want a few of those players to eat cap but have no obligation to beyond this year as an expansion team, that way you are ready next draft and FA. You can’t pick just on best contract or player, you need to build a somewhat competitive team cause your trying to build a fan base. You can’t have a team full of guards and win 5 games and hope fans will come back. Especially in a city with Steph Curry in it.
@@PaulRounds-l7cI hope Dantas stays.
Core burger, Saxton can replace Temi if she gets picked up. And if they take Saxton you still have Temi.
Yes you cam
Wishing the best for Grace. She has better opportunities elsewhere. If she stays with the Fever, she'll ride the bench for most of the season again, because Caitlin doesn't like to be off the court. I believe it's smart not to protect her, because they need to protect Fagbenle for defense and height.
😡😡🤬
I honestly don't know what Fever fans see in Temi.
I think the allure of Temi is she seemed to gel with CC early on.
But if Indiana is hell bent on protecting Smith and the sixth spot comes down to Temi or Grace - the logical move is to protect Grace.
Grace is younger
Grace will cost less
Grace I think is more needed
Temi has shown to be injury prone
It’s a shame Sides screwed this team up and we didn’t get to see what Grace or Victoria could do.
Her defense is godly. Tami destroyed all other 4 and 5 she guarded.
She’s the prettiest lady on the team 😍🥰
@@AlexanderMoises She averaged 0.5 stl, 0.7 blk, worse than Nalyssa Smith
Stop with your love for Grace Berger, there is a reason she rode the bench the majority of the year! She is not that good.