Protect Sophie Cunningham or Not? Indiana Fever’s WNBA Expansion Draft Trouble Deepens as Analyst Points to $1.4M Reality

The Indiana Fever have a significant decision to make on Sophie Cunningham as the WNBA expansion draft approaches. The 2026 WNBA expansion draft for the Toronto Tempo and the Portland Fire will be held on Friday. 

According to the rules, each team can protect up to five players from being picked. For the Fever, four of these spots seem like an easy pick. Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston, Kelsey Mitchell and Lexie Hull are the players the Fever are expected to protect. 

This leaves a question mark around Sophie Cunningham’s future with the team. WNBA analyst Robin Lundberg explained how protecting Cunningham could be strategically bad for the team.

“Sophie Cunningham, if one of those teams were to select her as their unrestricted free agent, that means they’re offering her a supermax to keep her around essentially, right?” Lundberg said. “Otherwise, what’s to stop her from just going back to the Fever?”

Lundberg continued, explaining how Cunningham, even if protected in the draft, could be enticed to leave Indiana if she received a max deal in free agency. 

“If one of these teams is offering Sophie the max, I don’t care how much she likes the Fever; she’s probably going to go there anyway,” he continued. “The Fever, it would be irresponsible for them to offer her the max.”

Lundberg also argued that since Makayla Timpson is a second-year player, protecting her should be a higher priority for the Fever, as opposed to protecting Cunningham. 

Sophie Cunningham says upcoming WNBA expansion draft will be a s*** show

Speaking on her “Show me Something” podcast at the start of March, Sophie Cunningham addressed the upcoming expansion draft, citing its dependence on the CBA, which was still being negotiated when the episode aired. 

“It’s so dependent on CBA, that’s why it’s going to be legit a sh*t show because you have an expansion draft. You have the draft out of college right after March Madness, and then everyone’s a free agent,” Cunningham said. 

The WNBA will host an expansion draft and the 2026 draft before opening free agency within a two-week span, with more than 100 players expected to be available.

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