While the Indiana Fever may not be meeting expectations, Aliyah Boston is exceeding them in All-Star worthy ways

Where would the Indiana Fever be this season without Aliyah Boston?

With a .500 record (7-7) and in seventh place in the WNBA standings, it’s fair to say that the Fever have had an up-and-down 2025 season to this point—and possibly a disappointing one, depending on how much one bought into their preseason hype.

Just don’t let the Fever’s inconsistency as a team diminish what Boston has been doing. Now in her third season in the WNBA, she’s in the midst of a career year, averaging 15.9 points per game on a league-best 61.7 percent shooting from the field. Just as in her first two seasons, Boston is also among the league leaders in rebounds (8.2; 7th) and blocks per game (1.4; 5th).

Where Boston has made arguably her greatest strides, however, is as a passer. She’s always been an unselfish player, but during a two-week stretch earlier in the season in which the Fever were without star point guard Caitlin Clark, Boston proved just how capable she is of being an offensive hub, leading the team in assists during that span. On the season, Boston is averaging a career-best 3.8 assists per game, which leads the WNBA among centers.

Still, play finishing remains Boston’s biggest strength, and there are few WNBA players who are better in that department. She’s more than held her own against some of the all-time greats, most recently totaling 57 points on 25-for-37 shooting against the Seattle Storm’s Nneka Ogwumike and the Las Vegas Aces’ A’ja Wilson, and the Fever have been able to depend upon her for these big performances even when things haven’t been going as well as they’d like elsewhere.

As a player who won Rookie of the Year on a team that went 13-27 in 2023, Boston is no stranger to that. Subpar Fever teams haven’t kept her from earning her accolades, which include two All-Star appearances, and Indiana’s lukewarm record thus far in 2025 certainly shouldn’t keep her from a third. Boston remains one of the most consistent and productive centers in the WNBA; expect her to once again be representing the Fever when All-Star weekend rolls around.

The Fever waive DeWanna Bonner and sign Aari McDonald

The Fever made several transactions on Wednesday, waiving veteran forward DeWanna Bonner and signing guard Aari McDonald. They also temporarily suspended the contract of forward Damiris Dantas, who will be participating in the upcoming FIBA Women’s AmeriCup competition as a member of the Brazilian National Team.

Bonner was one of several big-name acquisitions made by the Fever in free agency, but her time in Indiana was uneventful. The six-time All-Star and two-time WNBA champion was brought in to be a veteran leader for the Fever, and she seemed to look forward to that role, commenting that at this point in her career, she was content with being “another puzzle piece.”

Through nine games, however, Bonner was averaging career-lows in minutes (21.3) and points per game (7.1), and she hadn’t played since June 10 for personal reasons. The Fever were reluctant to elaborate on the situation in the days before waiving Bonner.

Photo by Joe Boatman/NBAE via Getty Images

McDonald played with the Fever on a hardship contract while Clark was injured, providing crucial minutes as a ball handler and point-of-attack defender. In those three games, she averaged 11 points, three assists and two steals; it’s safe to assume that she won’t be playing as much now that the Fever backcourt is healthy, but the depth she’ll add will be valuable nonetheless, giving Indiana another option at point guard next to Sydney Colson.

As far as Dantas is concerned, the Fever won’t be without her for long; AmeriCup is set to run through July 6, and the Fever play five games during that period. Look for Brianna Turner and Natasha Howard to pick up Dantas’ minutes at power forward while she’s away.