Sophie Cunningham signed a one-year, $665,000 deal to return to the Indiana Fever for the 2026 season. Now that the campaign is over, though, she heads to the offseason as an unrestricted free agent.
Cunningham averaged 7.9 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 43 games during the season. She established herself as a key player for Indiana, giving the team an offensive boost off the bench.
In fact, Cunningham was the Fever’s fourth-best scorer, behind only their Big 3 of Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston.
However, Cunningham also stirred controversy during the season for her take on transgender athletes in women’s sports. Many expressed the belief that her presence has caused unnecessary distraction for Indiana, prompting The Athletic’s Candace Buckner to urge the team to let her walk away in free agency.
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During the Fever’s exit interviews, reporters naturally asked general manager Amber Cox about Cunningham’s future with the team and whether the outside noise surrounding her would affect their decision.
Cox firmly stated that the controversies surrounding Cunningham won’t influence how they evaluate her before acknowledging her contributions to the franchise.
As for Cunningham’s future, though, Cox said that it’s still too early to say anything concrete, but they will eventually have conversations about it.
“Sophie’s had two really productive years for us in terms of shooting the basketball,” Cox said of Cunningham. “She is a really solid leader in the locker room, a great connector. You know, 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. So again, she’s an unrestricted free agent, so we look forward to having those conversations.”
She added, “Again, she had a really productive year and we’ll see just where things take us. I mean, obviously, it’s really, really early and we’ve got some time before we get to free agency.”
For what it’s worth, Cunningham herself is aware of her free agency situation and admitted that she doesn’t know what will happen in the offseason.
Regardless, she is proud of what the team has accomplished, adding that the “squad really loved each other.”
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