The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski will leave Yahoo Sports for ESPN following the NBA Draft on June 22, and ESPN also "intends to bring aboard some of the staff of The Vertical," according to sources cited by Peter Kafka of RE/CODE. Bringing Wojnarowski aboard means ESPN is "hiring its most prominent and fierce competitor." The move also is happening at the "same time that ESPN is letting some of its other basketball talent go." Last week, longtime ESPN NBA reporters Marc Stein, Chad Ford and Henry Abbott were "part of the company’s mass layoffs" (RECODE.net, 5/1). USA TODAY's A.J. Perez notes Wojnarowski has been "one of the go-to sources for breaking NBA news for years, especially via his Twitter account, which has nearly 1.7 million followers." It is "unclear whether he will appear on TV" (USA TODAY, 5/2). In Cleveland, Joey Morona notes this hiring will "mark a return to ESPN" for Wojnarowski, who wrote for ESPN.com until '07 (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 5/2). In DC, Boren & Bieler write Wojnarowski is to NBA reporting "what Adam Schefter is to the NFL." But Wojnarowski will "come at a high cost." He reportedly "signed a four-year contract" with Yahoo in '15 worth more than $6M. Taking on that kind of deal after recent layoffs "would be a bad look" for ESPN (WASHINGTON POST, 5/2).
