Will ESPN spoil things for its expert spoiler?
Looking ahead to the NBA draft on Thursday, at least as suspenseful as the picks themselves may be whether ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski upstages the proceedings on his own network.
Wojnarowski has made sport of undercutting the formal presentation via Twitter, reporting selections as he learned them along with news of draft-night trades, often ahead of the official announcements.
The difference is before now he wasn't working for an outfit carrying the draft.
Last year, amid ripe speculation that he was headed for ESPN, Wojnarowski and his colleagues at Yahoo's The Vertical continually got ahead of NBA Commissioner Adam Silver's stage show _ sometimes by two picks.
The effect, more often than not, was to make it seem the draft was televised on a tape delay.
When it came to trades, which can't be officially announced until the league reviews and approves them, ESPN did what it could when it was able to corroborate the news independently.
So when Lauri Markkanen donned a Timberwolves hat, even ESPN viewers were made aware the Arizona forward was Bulls-bound in the trade that sent Jimmy Butler to Minnesota.
Asked Monday for clarification, ESPN has yet to say if Wojnarowski might be in any way reined in Thursday to preserve drama. But he's as valuable as he is because he's good at getting ahead of NBA news no matter who would prefer it not get out yet. Plus, even if Wojnarowski stands down in any way, there are always other reporters trying to break news.
Preventing draft-night spoilers of any sort from a star NBA reporter would mean leaving a tremendous asset unharvested, withering on the vine.
Here's hoping ESPN bosses see the wisdom of letting Woj be Woj.
