Are the Indiana Fever going to re-sign Sophie Cunningham in free agency?
The veteran guard was on a one-year contract with the Fever this season. Cunningham, 30, played well off the bench, as one of the best 3-point shooters in the league, but she brought a lot of attention onto herself with comments on transgender athletes in women’s sports.
Indiana Fever GM Amber Cox has made it clear that the franchise will attempt to re-sign her in free agency.
“(Sophie) is a really solid leader in the locker room … she brings levity, but also brings a lot of experience. She’s serious and is an important voice in our locker room when we need it, when we really need to lock in. She’s an unrestricted free agent, so we look forward to having those conversations. She had a really productive year, and we’ll see just where things take us,” she said.
Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images.
But, it’s always possible that Cunningham will need to find a new home.
The Athletic’s Candace Buckner has named four different WNBA franchises as possible landing spots for Cunningham:
- Portland
- Toronto
- Chicago
- Cleveland (expansion franchise in 2028)
“Go to Chicago, or Portland. Or maybe Toronto could use a 30-year-old unrestricted free agent who averages fewer than 8 points a game, while her latest TikTok videos are good for about 2 million views a pop. Or perhaps expansion Cleveland can take her in 2028, unless of course she hasn’t already dropped basketball entirely by then to become a professional UFC ring girl, or full-time finger-pointer,” she wrote.
Indiana might need to make a strong offer
Cunningham made it clear over the summer that she wasn’t thrilled with Indiana only offering her a one-year deal for 2026.
“It’s tough, because I came off an injury, and I haven’t been in front of any teams. I had a lot going on this offseason,” Cunningham said. “I was fully cleared, they had all the doctors, they had the numbers and everything. But if you don’t get in front of these people, it’s like, ‘Hey, are you actually good?’ I’m not even gonna lie to you, though, it’s a little, kind of, frustrating. Because I’m someone who, I kind of shoot it straight. If I wasn’t feeling good or was hesitant, I think I would have said something and been honest. Because I’m just at the point in my career where I just want to win. I just want to win. And so I’m not going to put my ego in front of things. And I know it is a business, but I just think I’m wired a little differently. I don’t know. I just want to win.”
