Report: ESPN finalizing deal to hire Adrian Wojnarowski
NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski is set to leave Yahoo! Sports and join ESPN, reports Peter Kafka of Recode.
Wojnarowski's possible departure from Yahoo! was first reported by Deadspin's Kevin Draper in February.
Recode reported that Wojnarowski would join ESPN before the NBA draft but tweeted on Monday afternoon that he would be on Yahoo's live NBA draft show on June 22 with Tom Crean and the "whole gang." Kafka later backtracked and noted that Wojnarowski will head to ESPN after the draft.
Wojnarowski is reportedly in the second year of his current deal with Yahoo, which is estimated to be worth $6 million over four years. In January 2016, Yahoo! launched “The Vertical with Woj” and hired several other NBA insiders to the site.
ESPN also reportedly plans to hire other members of The Vertical, according to Recode.
The reported addition of Wojnarowski comes just after ESPN let go of insiders Marc Stein and Chad Ford during the company's most recent round of layoffs.
SI.com's Richard Deitsch and James Andrew Miller discussed ESPN's layoffs and the company's possible hiring of Wojnarowski in Monday's episode of the Media Podcast.
