Aari McDonald opens up about life on a WNBA hardship contract amid Indiana Fever release: 'You never know when you’ll get the call'

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ATLANTA — Aari McDonald allowed herself to feel it. For the first time in her life, she fell on the outside of roster cuts when the Los Angeles Sparks whittled their roster down for the 2025 season opener.

The next day, she moved forward, returning to the gym for hours at a time and working on shot repetitions and ball handling with her older brother and trainer, former UNLV guard Tre’Von Willis. They clocked hours daily at Washington Union High School in Fresno, Calif., where their mother, Andrea, works in campus security. Though the unemployed 26-year-old returned from those workouts to a childhood bedroom her parents kept intact, McDonald lived out of a suitcase for weeks while facing unknown next steps.

“It felt weird every day waking up not being in the gym or just being around my teammates,” McDonald, a 5-foot-6 point guard, told Yahoo Sports. “But I mean, my approach is, stay ready. You never know when you’ll get the call.”

That’s the life of in-season free agents floating around rosters across the country every season to fill vacant roster spots for an unclear span of time. With little wiggle room for absences and injuries on an 11-to-12 person roster, and no feeder league or two-way contracts like in the NBA, players keep in game shape to sign short-term contracts wherever needed.

McDonald’s call came at the beginning of June. Within 24 hours, the 2021 No. 3 draft pick landed in Indianapolis to sign an emergency hardship contract with the Indiana Fever following injuries to guards Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham. It pushed the Fever below 10 available players, the limit the CBA established as a minimum for player safety.

to meet the 10-player roster minimum and WNBA emergency hardship exception requirements, we have waived guard Aari McDonald.

thank you, Aari ❤️

learn more: https://t.co/Xmc2ko6EZtpic.twitter.com/tVPMcSgdgj

— Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) June 13, 2025

When Clark and Cunningham were deemed available on Friday ahead of Saturday's matchup with the Liberty, McDonald’s contract was immediately terminated as per Article VII, Section 4 of the 2020 collective bargaining agreement (CBA). This despite a stellar two weeks in Indiana and a seamless fit for the Fever, who cannot re-sign her for a period of 10 days unless they again require and are granted a hardship waiver.

More exemptions could be granted this month as WNBA players take leaves of absence to represent their national teams at EuroBasket from June 18-29. The Valkyries signed veteran Aerial Powers this week (June 10) after temporarily suspending the contracts of Julie Vanloo (Belgium), Cecilia Zandalasini (Italy) and Janelle Salaün (France). Other teams, such as the Sun, might rather cut an end-of-bench player heading overseas and sign a different free agent.

Most hardship contracts are utilized when injuries stack up. In May, the Sparks signed rookie Liatu King to a hardship contract while Rae Burrell (leg) is sidelined six to eight weeks and Cameron Brink (ACL) works back to game action. The Mercury signed wing Haley Jones to a hardship contract on June 1 and released her a week later.

Expanded roster sizes are a topic of discussion in the ongoing negotiations between the WNBA owners and the WNBA Players Association (WNBPA). Current and former players have spoken over the last few years of adding roster spots to avoid hardship contracts and develop young players so there are fewer draftees cut in May and more talent sticking on teams.

Until it’s negotiated, McDonald’s ongoing journey is inevitable.

Players, teams 'stay ready'


McDonald’s brief stay with the Fever brought her back to where her career began. She scored 14 points off the bench against her old Dream team in Atlanta, where she spent the first three seasons of her career before a 2024 trade to the Sparks. It was one of the few bright performances for the struggling Fever offense.


The Dream are one of the franchises that have yet to need a hardship exemption this season. Jordin Canada, the point guard they acquired in their trading of McDonald, is the only player to miss extended time due to injury. She returned last week.

That doesn’t mean Dream general manager Dan Padover isn’t prepared for the possibility of needing one.

“You always have to stay ready,” Padover told Yahoo Sports. “Players get removed off that list every day, because, as you're seeing with Indiana, players get signed up, so you're constantly monitoring it, adding [and] removing.”

Padover keeps two lists of in-season options. The first is essentially a true emergency list.

“There’s a list of players that you know are stateside, training, healthy and that you can call up within 24 hours, because that's how quickly it happens sometimes,” Padover said.

It’s categorized into ideal available players for different scenarios, such as what available player is a fit for a certain player or position, depending on who's impacted by injuries. Maybe there’s a free agent who can slide in for Brittney Griner, but if Allisha Gray needs to miss extended time, that same top-end free agent won’t fit the part. The players on the list all find their own ways to stay game-ready with their own trainers and structure.

Then there’s a bigger, more strategic list if there’s a way to add a 12th player or make a move that doesn’t need to be within 24 hours, Padover said. They’re the type of signings that, coupled with an in-house roster move under the hard salary cap, are made to fill a need. It can come as a result of a player like McDonald proving their place on a roster while on a hardship exemption elsewhere.

Fit for a Fever


Despite one practice and one shootaround, McDonald shined in her debut for the Fever on June 3. Her on-ball pressure improves the Fever defense, she can keep up the pace for a team that struggled to do so without Clark on the court, and she delivered five assists with zero turnovers.

The Fever’s addition of McDonald, a 5-foot-6 point guard, proved the perfect scenario for both parties in what can be a rarity in these last-minute adds. But McDonald wanted that in a deal.

“I’m all about fit,” McDonald said. “I don’t want to be plugged in a situation where they don’t need me. It’d be kind of like going backwards.

“I feel like my agent put me in the right spot, and I feel like I’m flourishing under Indy right now.”

While McDonald worked out at home, she kept an eye on WNBA action, specifically on the offense, chemistry, continuity and how she might slot into it.

Watching Indiana, her first thought was, “nah.”

Her second: possibly.

“I [could] see myself in the offense and just bringing my defensive abilities,” she said. “And it worked.”

Her agent, Marcus Crenshaw, called McDonald one evening to say the Fever were interested and to stay by her phone to speak with team personnel. Almost immediately, she said, Fever head coach Stephanie White reached out. McDonald said the veteran head coach praised her defensive tenacity, her ability to get touches in the paint and skills as an on-court leader — all attributes White has repeated to reporters since bringing her in.

White said she maintains conversations with general manager Amber Cox and president of basketball operations Kelly Krauskopf about potential hardship signings.

“They're the ones who really have their eye on everything when it comes to player movement and contracts and all of those things,” White said ahead of a loss to Atlanta. “[We’re] just having conversations about players that fit, but what our needs are. They always have a really good feel for that. You know, we were very fortunate to be able to get Aari, and she's fit in perfectly.”


As calls from Fever brass continued to come in that night, McDonald had time to “get my ducks in a row,” but nothing more. She rushed to her storage space in Fresno to grab basketball shoes and gear, a trove of face products, and anything else she deemed strictly essential. Once she ensured her husband, Devon, and their dog were set for her departure, she said goodbye with no idea of a return date.

It could be a week. It could be a full season.

On to the next one


Hardship players have to exit as quickly as they enter, no matter how smoothly the transition or how endeared they become to a fan base. It’s a significant amount of juggling, and puts a strain on players and teams integrating new pieces on short benches.

Teams cannot enter into a new contract with a player they release until 10 days afterward, unless there is another hardship exemption awarded in that span. The player becomes a free agent who can sign another hardship elsewhere, or a normal contract if a team makes roster and salary cap room.

That’s a strong possibility for McDonald, who delivered in what can end up as an extended try-out for all 13 teams to view.


The Sky, who will go forward without veteran point guard Courtney Vandersloot, might request a hardship exemption soon to sign her. The Wings could also drop below the threshold amid their injuries (Ty Harris) and EuroBasket commitments (Teaira McCowan). Or the Fever can make a roster move to sign her after the 10-day hold.

Shortly after the Sparks waived her, McDonald heard from former teammates Kelsey Plum, a former No. 1 overall pick who began a Dawg Camp program to prepare college players for a professional career, and Odyssey Sims, a 12-year veteran who signed eight contracts from August 2022 to September 2024.

Everything happens for a reason, they told her. Stay ready.

As Sims, signee of three 7-day contracts with the Sparks last August, messaged her: "You belong in this league."

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