DeWanna Bonner hasn’t been with the Indiana Fever since June 12 and requested a trade
Aari McDonald averaged 11.0 points and 3.0 rebounds in 3 games as a hardship signing earlier this season
The move gives the Indiana Fever $119,000 in cap space to sign a 12th player

SEATTLE – The Indiana Fever waived DeWanna Bonner on Wednesday morning, the team announced. Concurrently, they re-signed Aari McDonald to a standard rest-of-season contract at the veteran minimum.

Bonner has been away from the team since June 12, missing five games for personal reasons. Reports first surfaced Tuesday afternoon Bonner did not intend to return to the Fever. In nine games with the Fever, Bonner averaged 7.1 points and 3.8 rebounds in about 21 minutes per game.

Bonner, a 16-year veteran standing at 6-4, was a coveted free-agent signing for the Fever in February, and Indiana hoped that she would bring some veteran leadership to the young core. 

“I want to sincerely thank the Indiana Fever for the opportunity to be part of the Fever franchise,’ Bonner said in a news release. ‘Despite our shared goals and excitement heading into the season, I felt the fit did not work out and I appreciate the organization’s willingness to grant my request to move on, particularly at this point in my career. I wish the Fever great success as they continue to build around this dynamic group of young players.” 

Re-live Caitlin Clark’s spectacular rookie year with this book

The Fever tried different lineups and combinations, which included moving Bonner to coming off the bench and putting Lexie Hull in the starting lineup, but they couldn’t get to a place where Bonner was feeling good about her role.

Bonner then requested a trade, according to people familiar with the situation. Indiana looked for trade opportunities, but the size of Bonner’s contract and the fact it’s only 14 games into the season made it difficult to find a suitable team.

Bonner signed with the Fever for $200,000, unprotected, per Her Hoop Stats, so the Fever are able to waive her without a buyout or any monetary penalty. Bonner will end up taking up about $64,000 of the Fever’s cap space for the 14 games she was on the roster.

Bonner will hit the waiver wire for 48 hours, which will allow a team to pick her up and assume her contract. If she is not claimed on waivers within those 48 hours, she will become an unrestricted free agent, able to sign with any team for as low as the prorated veteran minimum. 

Waiving Bonner will free up the cap space for Indiana to sign McDonald, who will sign for the prorated veteran minimum of around $53,000. That is on top of the $6,000 she made while on a hardship contract with the Fever earlier this month.

McDonald is a four-year WNBA veteran, getting drafted to the Atlanta Dream out of Arizona with the No. 3 pick in 2021. She played three seasons with Atlanta before she was traded to Los Angeles ahead of the 2024 season, then played one season with the Sparks. She originally signed an extension with the Sparks for 2025, but Los Angeles waived her in the final days of training camp.

“I’m so excited to rejoin the Fever. Although my time with the team was brief, it immediately felt like the place to be,” McDonald said. “I’m grateful for the warm welcome from the coaches, teammates, and fans—and most of all, I thank God for the incredible journey I’m on.” 

“From the moment she arrived in Indy, Aari was a clear fit with the style and mentality we are building here with the Fever,” Fever COO and general manager Amber Cox said in a news release. “Though only here a few games, her impact as a playmaker and a defender was evident. We are very excited to welcome her back for the remainder of the season.” 

This move also allows the Fever the cap space of about $119,000 to sign a 12th player to their roster. Indiana is aiming to sign a frontcourt player for that final spot in hopes of filling the gap that Bonner left.

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The Edmonton Oilers traded veteran forward Evander Kane to his hometown Vancouver Canucks on June 25.

In exchange for Kane, 33, the Oilers received a fourth-round pick (117th overall) in this weekend’s NHL draft.

Multiple outlets reported the Canucks will absorb Kane’s $5.125 million cap hit for 2025-26, the final season of his four-year, $20.5 million contract.

‘Evander is a physical power forward who will add some much-needed size and toughness to our group,’ Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin said. ‘We like the way he wins puck battles along the boards and handles himself in the dirty areas in front of the net. Evander moves well around the ice and has proven to be a productive goal scorer in the National Hockey League. We are excited to bring him back home to Vancouver and our staff looks forward to working with him this coming season.’

Before both teams officially announced the deal, Kane broke the news during the morning on social media.

‘As my time with the Edmonton Oilers has now come to a close, I want to take a moment to sincerely thank the entire organization, my teammates, and the incredible community of Edmonton,’ Kane wrote on X. ‘To the Oilers Ownership,front office, coaching staff, and trainers — thank you for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to be a part of such a respected and passionate franchise. Your support meant everything, and I’ll always be grateful for the chance to compete in the blue and orange. To my teammates — thank you for the battles, the friendships, and the memories.

‘I’ll always remember the playoff runs, the highs and lows, and the pride of going to war with a special group of guys. To the fans — thank you for embracing me and showing unwavering support throughout my time in Edmonton. Rogers Place was always electric, and I’m proud to have played in front of such a passionate hockey city. My family and I have built some incredible relationships that will last forever.

‘With that said, I’m incredibly excited for the next chapter of my career as I join the Canucks. It’s an honor to become part of an organization and team I grew up watching as a kid. Vancouver is a city that lives and breathes hockey, I’m looking forward to the opportunity to play in front of my hometown as I did many years ago as a Vancouver Giant. With appreciation, Evander Kane.’

Kane recorded 12 points (six goals, six assists) in 21 playoff games before the Oilers fell to the Florida Panthers in six games in the Stanley Cup Final.

He sat out the entire regular season while recovering from multiple surgeries. He had surgery on Sept. 20 to repair two torn hip adductor muscles, two hernias and two torn lower abdominal muscles. He also had arthroscopic kneesurgery on Jan. 9.

Kane has totaled 617 points (326 goals, 291 assists) in 930 career regular-season games with the Atlanta/Winnipeg franchise (2009-15), Buffalo Sabres (2015-18), San Jose Sharks (2018-21) and Oilers. He was selected by theThrashers with the fourth overall pick of the 2009 NHL Draft.

Correction: The original version of this story referred to South Sudan facing a travel ban from the Trump administration. Only neighboring Sudan is facing a travel ban. The State Department has instead revoked existing visas and prevented the issuance of new visas to those from South Sudan.

Khaman Maluach was talking about the unprecedented route he took to the 2025 NBA Draft with a mixture of awe and inevitability last month, and no mention of the political headwinds that awaited him at the end of it. His explanation involved a Disney movie about Giannis Antetokounmpo. 

Maluach, a 7-foot-2 NBA draft lottery prospect, started down this path six years ago by showing up at a camp in Uganda organized by former NBA player Luol Deng. He was a refugee from war-torn South Sudan who played soccer until he got too tall and suddenly appeared on a new sport’s radar. He was inspired most of all by Antetokounmpo, the son of Nigerian immigrants but born and raised in Greece. 

“I watched his movie,” Maluach said, referencing the 2022 film, “Rise,” that chronicles Antetokounmpo and his brothers’ journey to the United States and the NBA. “But just his story, his background coming from Greece and then coming to America.”

Maluach didn’t linger long on that last part, as his advisors prefer given the geopolitics now swirling around the beginning of his career. 

He is not just an intriguing player in this year’s NBA draft class because of his 9-foot-6 standing reach, readymade rim protection skills and rapid ascent into an elite prospect. This 18-year-old is also the only potential draftee hailing from a country currently dealing with the revocation of visas by the United States. 

He’s both the next potential face for the NBA’s decades-long investment in an African basketball developmental pipeline and an unintended consequence of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

“They’re trying to use leverage against these countries, and oftentimes it’s through visa issuance,” said Philadelphia-based immigration attorney Adam Solow. “This kid is caught up in the middle of that.” 

Trump visa bans: How they impact 2025 NBA draft, Khaman Maluach

A quirk related to Maluach’s visa situation will play out on Wednesday night at the 2025 NBA Draft. The NBA is preparing for the complicated scenario that would be triggered if Maluach were to be taken by the Toronto Raptors with the No. 9 overall pick. 

Given the current Trump administration policy related to South Sudan, Maluach would have to apply for a United States tourism visa and a waiver to South Sudan’s visa ban any time he enters the United States if he plays for the Raptors, according to the NBA. That would also be in addition to having to obtain a Canadian work visa. The Raptors had to cross the United States border from Canada for road games 19 times based on their 2024-25 schedule.

If Maluach were to be drafted by any of the 29 other NBA teams, the league told USA TODAY Sports he would only have to apply for a waiver upon re-entering the United States each time his future team played at Toronto. The league acknowledged Maluach’s situation is more complex than the typical draftee.

But the NBA’s evolution into an international business, with MVP winners from outside the United States the past seven years, has often put the league at the forefront of immigration issues that arise due to events and policies occurring around the world outside the realm of sport.

Maluach became the league’s most prominent case of this in 2025 on the same day Duke played in the Final Four in April. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced visa and travel restrictions on South Sudan that remain in place ahead of the start to the NBA draft. 

“Enforcing our nation’s immigration laws is critically important to the national security and public safety of the United States,” a State Department spokesperson wrote in a statement provided to USA TODAY Sports on June 20. “In accordance with the April 5 decision made by Secretary Rubio, the Department took appropriate steps to revoke visas held by South Sudanese passport holders. South Sudanese passport holders who were notified of their visa revocation are not required to depart the United States before their Admit Until Date. Any future travel to the United States will require a new visa application.”

The spokesperson added that the State Department does not generally comment on actions related to specific visa cases due to concerns about privacy and visa confidentiality. More details about the policy related to South Sudan have emerged in court.

A federal judge in Massachusetts ruled on May 21 that the Trump administration violated a previous order when it attempted to send migrants convicted of serious crimes in the United States to third countries – in this case, South Sudan – without providing clear information and ample time to raise any concerns about being sent to that country. But the Supreme Court agreed on Monday, June 23 to pause that order in a 6-3 decision, allowing migrants to be deported to third countries, including South Sudan.

It also included a clause providing an exemption for “any athlete or member of an athletic team, including coaches, persons performing a necessary support role, and immediate relatives, traveling for the World Cup, Olympics, or other major sporting event as determined by the Secretary of State.”

The NBA told USA TODAY Sports the league does not believe Maluach is in danger of being deported and it is comfortable with the process to apply for a waiver to the South Sudan visa restrictions based on how often it runs into complex international visa situations, including the travel bans Trump instituted during his first term in the White House. 

“The NBA has a voice in this that is bigger and louder and more influential,” said Ksenia Maiorova, an Orlando, Florida-based immigration attorney who works extensively with international college athletes to obtain visas.

Maluach, according to the NBA, had been playing at Duke on a student visa and the university has been helping him during the transition between his college season and the draft. Upon being drafted Wednesday, Maluach would be eligible to apply for an O1 or P1 visa given by the United States to professional athletes and those with ‘extraordinary abilities.’ 

Duke, through an athletics department spokesperson, declined to comment when USA TODAY Sports sought comment on its role in Maluach’s visa situation. Maluach told USA TODAY Sports at the NBA Draft combine in May that his representatives at Klutch Sports are dealing with any potential visa issues. A spokesperson at Klutch Sports declined to comment when reached by USA TODAY Sports.

“I let them handle that and focus on what’s important to me and what’s ahead of me,” Maluach said.

Why Khaman Maluach is so important for NBA in Africa

They all use some variation of the same phrase to describe Khaman Maluach, even the biggest star of the 2025 NBA Draft. 

‘Everything about him is so pure,’ said Cooper Flagg, Maluach’s teammate at Duke this past season and the presumptive No. 1 pick this year. ‘Some people you can just tell their intentions and whether they are pure. Khaman is one of those people.”

The NBA sees a model for future African players in Maluach. 

He joined the NBA Academy Africa as a 14-year-old, leaving his family in Uganda to join a first-of-its-kind elite basketball training center in Senegal despite having never played organized basketball before. In just a few years’ time, he blossomed in a program the NBA began in 2017 to “double down on a new way of player development and investment on the continent,” according to Troy Justice, the NBA’s senior vice president of international basketball. 

Maluach eventually competed against professionals for three seasons in the Basketball Africa League (BAL) through a partnership between the league and NBA Academy Africa, and also impressed scouts at Basketball Without Borders camps and G League showcases. He then played for South Sudan’s first Olympic basketball team at the 2024 Paris Games. Maluach said the NBA Academy program “not only shaped me on the basketball court, but … I had to learn to be a man off the basketball court and the Academy helped me through all that.”

More than 50 African basketball players have earned Division-I scholarships through NBA Academy Africa, with two already in the NBA. But none of them are the level of prospect Maluach became in short order. He is expected to be the first first-round draft pick to emerge from NBA Academy Africa. 

“Draft night is going to be life-changing for him,” Justice said. “His (journey) has been very unique, special in a lot of ways because it connects all his dots. It literally shows the NBA’s complete pathway.”

Maluach is part of a wave of players that has seen multiple generations of Africans like them make it to the NBA from seemingly remote circumstances. He believed those around him when they said he could do it, too. Only how quickly he got here seems far-fetched to him at this point. 

Maluach is still considered a work-in-progress by NBA scouts because of his limited experience, with an offensive skill set and on-court instincts that will require patience from the team that drafts him. But his length and defensive potential, and the reality he’s much closer to the start of his career than any other prospect on the board, could make him a top-10 pick if the mock drafts are correct. 

Maluach thinks about the possibility with wonder, unbothered by the conflicts going on around him, just like when he arrived at that first basketball camp and his road to the NBA draft really began.

“I saw a lot of tall people happy, and I was like, ‘This is where I belong,’” Maluach said.

George Kittle is entering his age-32 season in 2025, but the San Francisco 49ers tight end doesn’t appear to have retirement on his mind any time soon.

Kittle was asked in a Tuesday appearance on ‘Bussin’ With The Boys’ about when he might walk away from the NFL.

‘Literally until I don’t have fun anymore,’ Kittle replied. ‘Or if Claire (his wife) looks at me and goes, ‘You kinda look like (expletive) out there, you should retire.’ I’ll be like, ‘All right.”

Kittle hasn’t reached the latter stage yet. He continues to be one of the NFL’s top tight ends and is coming off a season during which he posted 78 catches, 1,106 yards and eight touchdowns across 15 games. He made his fourth consecutive Pro Bowl and was named to the All-Pro second team for the third time in his career.

As such, Kittle believes he still has at least a few years left in the tank – provided he can remain healthy.

‘I think if I get to like I’m 35 and it hurts just to put pants on in the morning, I think I’ll be like, ‘Ah, this isn’t that much fun anymore,’ and I’ll have a conversation with myself,’ Kittle explained. ‘But I’m feeling great right now.’

While Kittle is happy to be playing in the NFL and ‘hasn’t daydreamed’ about retirement, he is excited about the potential opportunities he might have when he does call it quits. He believes he could eventually ‘talk football’ somewhere and also noted he is hoping to be an extra in Henry Cavill’s upcoming TV series based on the ‘Warhammer’ games.

However, there is one opportunity he is hoping to pursue above all else.

‘I would love to do WWE,’ Kittle said. ‘I think there’s definitely opportunity within that world, and I would love nothing more than to be a part of it.’

Kittle, a long-time wrestling fan, has appeared in WWE programming before. Most notably, he was at WrestleMania 39 in 2023, where he came out of the crowd clad in a ‘TEU’ tank top and helped Pat McAfee defeat The Miz.

That said, Kittle acknowledged any future effort he makes to join WWE full-time would take a lot more practice than his guest spots in the past.

‘I would only do WWE if I bought a ring and practiced my ass off for a while so I wouldn’t look like an idiot out there,’ Kittle explained. ‘I’ve been in a WWE ring like three times. I don’t know what I’m doing out there. I have an understanding of how it works, but I haven’t moonsaulted off the top rope at WrestleMania like Pat McAfee did.’

The 49ers will be hoping Kittle’s WWE training won’t begin for another handful of years. San Francisco signed Kittle to a four-year contract extension in April that will tether him to the organization through his age-36 season in 2029.