Caitlin Clark's injury timeline is a huge blow to this one Fever goal

The WNBA's Commissioner's Cup has been an early success for the league, with the last three teams to win a Cup title - the Las Vegas Aces, New York Liberty, and Minnesota Lynx - having all also made Finals appearances. Two of those teams, the Aces and Liberty, have managed to snag the championship over that three year span.

It's a great barometer of what teams are actually contenders and which ones aren't necessarily ready for the challenge of a postseason push just yet. The atmosphere and stakes are similar to the playoffs, and the payoff is excellent: winners receive a $500,000 prize pool, bragging rights, a banner, and an extra $120,000 pool in cryptocurrency.

That's what makes Caitlin Clark's quad injury a bit harder to deal with for the Indiana Fever. Not only are Cup games a great test for them, but they've never made it out as the top team in the Cup's existence. If they did, it'd firmly place them amongst the highest echelon of teams in the league. Without Clark, it's hard to see how they have a decent path towards having the best record in the Eastern Conference for Cup seeding.

Commissioner's Cup runs right through Clark's injury timeline

If Clark's 2-week timeline is accurate, then that means she may return for the teams' game against the Liberty on June 14. If not, then their next contest on the 17th against the Connecticut Sun may be her better bet. However, starting on June 3 against the Washington Mystics, games become Cup games, which means 4-5 Cup games will be missed by her.

READ MORE: WNBA MVP is now painfully obvious after Caitlin Clark injury

That's the entire in-season portion of the Cup, essentially. If Indiana can keep afloat without her over that stretch and manage to post as many wins and points as possible in the conference, then Clark returning just in time for a push to be the top team in the conference would be huge. If not, then it'll be clear that her injury threw a wrench in Indiana's shot at winning the Cup, for the first time.

This is obviously not the end of the Fever's road. They still have playoff seeding to worry about, and a championship to pursue. Winning the Cup would be a great way to announce that they had arrived, but it doesn't have to be the defining feature of their legitimate contention in 2025.

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