Unlikely candidate emerges to replace Adrian Wojnarowski at ESPN

ESPN is reportedly considering a highly unusual arrangement to replace departing NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski.

According to Andrew Marchand of The Athletic, ESPN is considering enlisting MLB insider Jeff Passan as a replacement for Wojnarowski. ESPN would have Passan switch sports partly because its long-term network with the NBA is much stronger and more guaranteed than its television relationship with Major League Baseball.

It is unclear if Passan would even be interested in switching sports. Before moving to ESPN, he has generally written about baseball for his entire career, including at Yahoo Sports. Some at ESPN have suggested Wojnarowski could be involved in mentoring Passan if the switch did take place.

As previously reported, Shams Charania, Wojnarowski’s top rival on the NBA breaking news beat, is also a possible replacement. Additionally, NBC is interested in Charania, while The Athletic wants to keep him.

ESPN’s NBA coverage remains in a state of flux. In addition to Wojnarowski’s abrupt retirement, the network just let go of another top NBA expert for cost-cutting reasons.