ESPN MAKES HUGE NBA HIRE

ESPN laid off a half-dozen staffers who covered the NBA as part of about 100 job cuts last week, but the company is adding the highest-profile reporter on the NBA beat. Yahoo Sports’ Adrian

Wojnarowski has finalized a deal with ESPN and will begin working for the company by the start of NBA free agency July 1, a person with knowledge of the deal who was not authorized to speak publicly confirmed to USA TODAY Sports. Recode was the first to report a deal had been finalized. Wojnarowski will be joined at ESPN by other staffers of The Vertical, the NBA-dedicated website and podcast launched by Yahoo Sports last year.