Arizona legend Aari McDonald has been signed to an emergency hardship exception with the Indiana Fever. Per the Indiana website, "The WNBA emergency hardship exception allows any team to sign a player, with immediate effect, if a team drops below 10 game-eligible players at any time."
Indiana signed McDonald with only eight players on its roster with Caitlin Clark, Sydney Colson, and Sophie Cunningham out with injuries. McDonald has been a free agent since being cut in training camp with the Los Angeles Sparks.
McDonald has career averages of 8.6 points per game, 2.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.0 steal while shooting 38.9 percent from the field, 32.3 percent on three-point attempts, and 84.9 percent on three-point attempts. The Atlanta Dream chose McDonald with the third pick in the 2021 WNBA Draft.
McDonald spent her first three seasons with Atlanta before being traded to Los Angeles. In 26 games with Los Angeles in 2024, McDonald averaged 8.7 PPG, 2.0 RPG and 3.7 APG while shooting 40.3 percent from the field, 31.9 percent on three-point attempts and 84.3 percent from the free throw line.
Lexie Hull and Kelsey Mitchell are the healthy players listed only as guards on the Indiana roster. DeWanna Bonner is listed as a guard-forward. Clark is out for at least two weeks with a quad strain and Colson and Cunningham sustained injuries versus the Connecticut Sun on Friday, per ESPN.
Alexa Phillipou of ESPN also reported Colson and Cunningham are expected to return "sooner rather than later." Indiana hosts Washington on Tuesday and is off until Saturday, when they play against the Chicago Sky at the United Center.
McDonald provides Indiana with an experienced point guard and elite defender who should provide productive minutes. McDonald stated it was weird being home this time of year watching WNBA games and she is excited to join a team like the Fever.