The Indiana Fever waived six-time All-Star DeWanna Bonner on Wednesday after failing to find a trade partner for the disgruntled veteran. Bonner left the team for “personal reasons” after nine games and refused to return. The 37-year-old wing was replaced on the roster by Aari McDonald, who played in three games for the Fever earlier in the season on a hardship contract when the Fever had several players injured.
Indiana signed Bonner in the off-season to be a veteran presence and scorer on a young Fever squad. She was coming off an All-Star campaign for the Connecticut Sun in 2024 that saw her average 15 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal per game. Bonner was a starter for the Fever at the beginning of the season, but she was moved to the bench after going a combined 2-12 from the field and scoring only eight total points over the first three games.
Bonner went 0-4 from the field in her first game coming off the bench, but she finally found some success after that. In Games Five and Six, the Auburn alum scored 21 and 13 points respectively, and it looked like she was finally finding her groove with the team. Unfortunately, she slumped again over her next three games, shooting only 36% from the field. That is when Bonner left the team, never to return, and eventually requested a trade. Indiana obliged, but they were never able to find a trading partner for the 16-year veteran.
Bonner will be on waivers for 48 hours. If no team is willing to take on the rest of her $200,000 contract during that time, she will become an unrestricted free agent. At that point, any team can sign her for the prorated veteran minimum for the rest of the season.
McDonald played her way into Bonner’s spot. When Caitlin Clark, Sophie Cunningham, and Sydney Colson all went down with injuries, McDonald was signed to a hardship contract and played well. The fifth-year guard out of Arizona averaged 11 points, two steals, three assists, and one rebound over a three-game span and clicked well with the team. The Fever have signed McDonald for the rest of the season.
Bonner never really meshed with this Fever team. She even admitted that fact in a press release after she was waived, stating that despite her “excitement heading into the season,” she “felt the fit did not work out.” That’s fine, not every player will have chemistry with a new team right away. That said, you don’t just quit on your team and refuse to suit up. When news of Bonner’s situation became public, I can understand why Indiana had a hard time finding a trade partner. Who wants to trade for someone who just quit on their team, especially if you have to pay the rest of her $200k salary?
Clearly, this was not the best way for Bonner to handle things. Communication is key in any job, and especially in a team-oriented one. For Bonner to just bail out on her team after a few games does not speak well of her current frame of mind. I understand that she may not have been happy about coming off the bench, but she probably would have been starting again with all the recent injuries had she just been patient. In the end, if she would have produced as a starter at the beginning of the year, she would not have found herself on the bench to begin with.
In her prime, Bonner was a force on the floor. In 2020, she averaged 20 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and just under two steals per game. She currently ranks third in WNBA history in points scored. I’m sure that, if Bonner wants to keep playing, some team will take a chance on her. It’s just a shame that she chose to damage her legacy like this in order to gain her freedom from a young team that looked to her for veteran leadership. I thought that Bonner would be the player that would put Indiana over the hump. Instead, she could be the one that tanks their season.
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