The Indiana Fever’s most important offseason recruit may be Caitlin Clark herself.

During her end-of-season media availability last Thursday, Clark pledged to do everything she can to bring star guard Kelsey Mitchell back to Indiana. Mitchell signed a one-year, $1.4 million supermax deal with the Fever in April and will be an unrestricted free agent this winter.

Clark said she and Mitchell have talked since the season ended, and she was blunt about what losing her backcourt partner would mean.

“We’re gonna recruit her as hard as we can. We need her, we love her,” Clark said. “There’s nobody I would want to share the backcourt with other than her.”

The numbers back up her case. Mitchell averaged 24.7 points per game this season — the fifth-highest single-season scoring average in WNBA history and the best in Fever franchise history. She set a league record with 1,086 points, knocked down a WNBA single-season record 135 three-pointers, and led the league in three-point percentage at 45 percent among players who attempted more than 25.

Clark called theirs the best backcourt in the league. She said she often tells Mitchell, “I feel like I have the best seat in the house every single night.”

Getting Mitchell back will not be simple. The Fever are expected to need salary-cap maneuvering to fit a new Mitchell deal alongside upgrades elsewhere, and Clark acknowledged she may need to make sacrifices around her own contract — she is eligible this offseason for the new EPIC extension provision, which could pay her a projected $1.3 million in 2027.

But Clark sounded all-in on making it work.

“We need her, we love her, and I think more than anything, Kelsey’s a really great person,” she said. “This organization and these fans have really rallied around her and have supported her.”

Indiana’s offense ranked among the league’s best in 2026, but its first-round exit against Las Vegas exposed how thin the roster gets when the two stars do not have enough support. Keeping Mitchell in a Fever uniform is the clear first step toward fixing that.

Sources: USA Today Hawkeyes Wire (Oct 12, 2026); Essentially Sports (Oct 13, 2026). Clark’s comments from her Oct. 8 end-of-season media availability as reported.