Indiana Fever Ruthlessly Waive Notable Player In Surprise Move Five Days After Her Birthday | HO

The Indiana Fever have made a notable roster move ahead of Thursday’s road tilt against the Seattle Storm.

On Tuesday, the Indiana Fever announced that they have waived rookie guard Celeste Taylor and activated veteran Damiris Dantas. The move comes just five days after Taylor celebrated her 23rd birthday, another reminder of how tough the professional sports business can be.

Indiana drafted Taylor with the No. 15 selection in April, 14 spots after selecting generational talent Caitlin Clak with the first overall pick. In five game appearances with the Fever, Taylor averaged 0.6 points and 0.2 rebounds per game.

Dantas signed a two-year deal with Indiana in February after playing in Minnesota from 2019 to 2023. Dantas, who spent her first two years with Minnesota (2014 to 2015) also played for Atlanta from 2015 to 2017.

Taylor was a star player in college for Texas, Duke and Ohio State. The Queens, New York native was renowned for her defense, winning 2023 ACC Defensive Player of the Year and 2024 Big Ten Conference Women’s Basketball Defensive Player of the Year honors.

Dantas joins an Indiana Fever team that sits 7-11, having won six of their last 10 games. She has averaged 7.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game in her career while shooting 34.1 percent from downtown.

Indiana Fever Are Right Back In The Playoff Race

After an ugly 1-8 start to the season, Caitlin Clark and the Fever have quickly turned a corner and find themselves in the thick of the WNBA postseason race.

They are just half a game behind the Chicago Sky and Atlanta Dream (both 6-9) for the final two playoff spots in the standings, and two games behind the Phoenix Mercury (8-8) for the No. 6 seed.

Thursday’s contest with Seattle is the third of a five-game road trip for Indiana, who will conclude the trek against Las Vegas next Tuesday.