INDIANAPOLIS — Kelsey Mitchell has spent her entire professional career with the Indiana Fever.

Drafted No. 2 overall in 2018, she has been through the franchise's ups and downs — mostly downs. Mitchell signed a three-year extension in 2021 ahead of the final year of her rookie contract, locking her into Indiana, just two hours from her hometown, until the end of the 2024 season.

From having four different coaches in seven years and four single-digit win seasons, playing in the WNBA bubble in 2020 and the Indiana State Fairgrounds while the Fever were undergoing renovations in 2021 and 2022, she’s now starting to see the other side with sold-out Gainbridge Fieldhouse and a potential playoff berth for the first time in her career.

“Kelsey is a classic example of somebody that's been here six or seven years and never been in the playoffs, and that's tough, being in losing seasons,” Fever general manager Lin Dunn said. “... she's had a tough, tough time since she's been here. Hopefully these last two years have reassured her the direction that we're going.”

Mitchell has been the Fever’s leading scorer each of the past five seasons and is averaging 17.7 points per game this season — barely behind Caitlin Clark’s 17.8. Mitchell's 3,651 career points are second in franchise history (only Tamika Catchings has more; 7,380). The two-time WNBA All-Star is a consistent, solid scorer, someone the Fever would like to keep around.

Dunn emphasized she would work with Mitchell and her agents following the season, making it unlikely Mitchell will sign an extension in-season.

“When the season's over, we'll sit down and talk about the future,” Dunn said. “You know, I want Kelsey to be happy, and I want her to feel like she can achieve all the goals that she has here, but that remains to be seen, you know, based on the experiences she's already had in the past.”

As someone who has never been a free agent, Mitchell said she’s excited to experience that for the first time.

“Those conversations are going to have to be had, and I’m gonna do what’s best for me,” Mitchell said last week. “It’s always going to be a business, so I’m excited to explore free agency. I’ve never been a free agent in my professional career, so I’m excited to see where it goes.”

But, in the complicated world of the WNBA offseason, Mitchell still might not get a chance to be a true free agent this season.

The Fever have the option of “coring” Mitchell, which is similar to a franchise tag in the NFL — getting exclusive negotiating rights for an outgoing player in exchange for a short-term, large contract.

Following this season, Indiana could extend a core qualifying offer to Mitchell, which would give the Fever exclusive negotiating rights in exchange for a minimum one-year, supermax salary, which is $241,984. Mitchell is earning $212,000 this season, so it wouldn’t be too much of a jump for the franchise financially. The Fever could afford that raise under this year's salary cap, and will likely have even more room this offseason with Erica Wheeler's $202,154 coming off the books.

From there, Mitchell could negotiate a longer deal with the Fever or just play under the core deal. Players can only be cored for a total of three seasons, regardless of which team they’re on. If Mitchell were to negotiate a longer contract under the core designation, those seasons would count toward that time.

In one possible scenario, specific to this offseason, the Fever might not even have a chance to core Mitchell — she wouldn’t have a choice either.

The league is introducing an expansion team, the Golden State Valkyries, in 2025, and with that comes an expansion draft. The WNBA has not officially announced the logistics yet, but past expansion drafts have allowed new teams to pick one unrestricted free agent and core them. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said the expansion draft for the Valkyries will happen in December, which is before the typical coring period for other teams — for the 2024 season, teams had the chance to core one player between Jan. 1-15.

The last expansion draft was in 2008, when the Atlanta Dream joined the league. Each team could protect six players in that draft. The Dream then picked one player from each existing team, as well as Betty Lennox, an unrestricted free agent out of Seattle. The draft allowed Atlanta to core Lennox, giving the team negotiating rights.

According to Richard Cohen of Her Hoop Stats, teams were able to protect unrestricted free agents who had played with them the season prior during the 2008 expansion draft. Under those rules, the Fever could protect Mitchell in this expansion draft, then core her following it. It is still unknown if the WNBA will enact the same rules for this expansion draft, which is in about four months.

“I’d love to hear something about it,” Dunn said of the expansion draft. “… I think as GM’s we’re all interested in, ‘How will this work?’ So I think we’ll be hearing that soon.”

Mitchell would likely be one of the top free agents in the 2025 WNBA free agency period, coming off back-to-back All-Star appearances. But there are other top players coming into free agency, per Spotrac, including reigning MVP Breanna Stewart, Connecticut's Alyssa Thomas and DeWanna Bonner, Seattle's Nneka Ogwumike, Las Vegas' Kelsey Plum, and Dallas’ Satou Sabally.

There are a lot of potential options for the Valkyries to potentially pick. But if the Fever want to guarantee to keep their All-Star, especially with the unknown of this upcoming draft, it'll take agreeing to an extension before the season ends. Then, they could make sure to protect her.

Mitchell could get through to true free agency if both the Fever and the Valkyries do not core her. Then, Mitchell would likely be entertaining offers from multiple teams, including the Fever, in an open market.

Follow IndyStar Fever Insider Chloe Peterson on X at @chloepeterson67.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Fever All-Star Kelsey Mitchell up for free agency, but there's a catch