Tag: Adrian Wojnarowski

Adrian Wojnarowski missed a flight on purpose so he could break James Harden trade news

There’s a reason why Woj is one of the best at what he does.

The life of a sports insider never ceases to amaze us.

Adrian Wojnarowski (AKA Woj) is one of the best in the business. The NBA insider is known for his fantastic ability to break news that rarely anyone else can get. Amazingly, fans often commiserate over “Where were you when Woj broke the news?” moments.

Woj’s job requires him to be available at all kinds of strange hours, no matter what he does. He could be with family, and news would drop. He could be doing a live segment, and the information will fall. He could be trying to catch a flight, and word will drop that stops him in his tracks.

That happened when Woj learned that James Harden was headed to the Clippers.

During a recent episode of The Woj Pod, the insider revealed that while at Newark airport waiting on a flight, it was suggested to him by a source not to get on a plane because breaking news was about to drop.

“It’s always my worst fear with this job that you’re on a plane, and the wireless is spotty, and you can’t get to what you need to do,” Woj said.

“So I sat at Newark airport, watched the place close down, and then almost start to reopen again.”

Based on the timeline given by Woj, we now know that he released the initial Harden news around 2:00 a.m. ET, and he didn’t leave the airport until after 3:30 a.m. ET, despite being there since before 5:00 p.m. ET.

That’s commitment.

Adrian Wojnarowski had NBA fans waiting on James Harden trade details in middle of night (but give him a break!)

C’mon. Give Woj a break. He broke this trade in the middle of the night!

If you woke up in shock to see the James Harden trade from the Philadelphia 76ers to the Los Angeles Clippers, you weren’t the only one.

But what if you were up at 2 a.m. ET when ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news that Harden had been dealt? And then what if you waited for the trade details, which came in about 39 minutes later?

Yeah, there were a lot of fans who were miffed, and this is where I have a few things to say:

1. GO TO BED. THE TRADE WILL BE THERE IN THE MORNING.

2. Sometimes, reporters need to gather up the details and need to take the time to get them right, especially a deal that has a lot of players, pick swaps and other notable parts to it. Give Woj a break. Dude was up that late to break the news.

Here was the reaction:

 

Report: Thunder acquire Kevin Porter Jr., two second-round picks; will waive him

The Thunder have acquired Kevin Porter Jr. – who they will waive – and two future second-round picks from the Rockets.

The Oklahoma City Thunder traded Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Victor Oladipo to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Kevin Porter Jr. and two second-round picks, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The Thunder plan to immediately waive Porter Jr., who was not with the Rockets throughout training camp and preseason in the wake of his being charged with second-degree strangulation and third-degree assault.

In September, Porter Jr. was arrested for allegedly assaulting and strangling his girlfriend, former WNBA player Kysre Gondrezick. He recently rejected a plea deal related to the arrest.

A second-degree assault charge was dropped on Monday by prosecutors due to insufficient evidence. According to reports, Gondrezick has a congenital defect that was mistaken for a cracked neck vertebra.

Porter Jr. signed a four-year extension worth up to $82.5 million last year but the deal was only partially guaranteed due to previous off-court issues.

The Thunder will pay Porter Jr. the remaining $16.9 million guaranteed money left on his current deal. The two second-round picks they acquired are a 2027 second-round pick from the Minnesota Timberwolves and a 2028 second-round pick from the Milwaukee Bucks.

This move marks the end of Robinson-Earl’s and Oladipo’s tenures with the Thunder. The former is owed $1.9 million this season with a $2 million team option for next season. The latter is on an expiring $9.5 million contract. He continues to rehab from a torn patellar tendon he suffered in April.

With Robinson-Earl and Oladipo on the move, the Thunder’s regular-season roster gets clearer. This trade and subsequent release of Porter Jr. puts OKC’s roster at 19 players — 16 standard players and three two-way players.

The Thunder need to make one more decision to get down to an 18-man regular-season roster by the Oct. 25 season opener against the Chicago Bulls.

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Woj: OKC Thunder have 4 potential All-Stars and possibly an MVP candidate in Chet Holmgren

Conventional wisdom is starting to catch up on what the Thunder have built over the last few years.

Over the last few months, the Oklahoma City Thunder have begun to receive their flowers from the national media.

After three years of rebuilding, it appears Thunder general manager Sam Presti has done it once again. The Thunder’s young core was voted as the most promising in the league by executives by a wide margin, and it’s hard to fault that judgment when reviewing the roster.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leads the way. He blossomed into one of the best players in the league last season. Chet Holmgren was the 2022 No. 2 pick. Jalen Williams finished No. 2 in Rookie of the Year voting. Josh Giddey is expected by some executives to be a breakout candidate this year.

That doesn’t even include other recent lottery picks Ousmane Dieng and Cason Wallace. Both have shots to develop into real rotation pieces for OKC.

The overwhelming amount of young and promising talent has national media across the league expecting a promising future and present for the Thunder. Add ESPN’s NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski to the list.

In a recent television appearance, Wojnarowski said he believes the Thunder could possess several future All-Stars on their current roster.

“I think there are four potential All-Stars in that lineup down the road and maybe Holmgren’s a potential MVP candidate certainly,” Wojnarowski said.

This is certainly high praise by Woj, who’s known as arguably the best news breaker in the business. If he’s right, the Thunder have set themselves up for another lengthy window of title contention once again.

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NBA in-season tournament details revealed; final four to be played at Las Vegas

The final 4 will be played at Las Vegas on Dec. 7 and Dec. 9.

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One of the biggest changes that were made in the newest CBA is the addition of a mid-season tournament. After years of speculation, the change was made official when the CBA was agreed upon by owners and players.

The Oklahoma City Thunder — along with the other 29 teams — will get a chance to play in the inaugural tournament next season. The final four of the tournament are expected to take place in Las Vegas on Dec. 7 and Dec. 9, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojanorwski. The semifinal statistics will count towards the regular season; the championship round will not.

The league will divide its 30 teams into six pools of five teams. The pools will be composed of teams from the same conference, but not necessarily the same division.

On designated days in the first six weeks of the regular season, teams will play four group games that will also count as regular season games. All five pool teams will play against each other at least once in two road games and two home games.

The six pool winners and two wildcard teams will enter a single-game elimination tournament that will conclude in Las Vegas. Players on the winning team will earn $500,000 each.

Only 80 regular season games will be scheduled for all 30 NBA teams. The remaining 22 teams who do not advance to the knockout rounds will have two additional regular season games added to equal 82. The two championship-round teams will end the regular season with 83 games.

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Report: Thunder acquire Patty Mills in multi-team trade for draft pick(s)

The Thunder continue to utilize their cap space by absorbing bloated salaries for draft compensation.

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The Oklahoma City Thunder continue to make moves with their available cap space.

The Thunder agreed to acquire veteran guard Patty Mills in a multi-team trade that includes the Memphis Grizzlies and Houston Rockets, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. In exchange for absorbing his $6.8 million expiring salary, the Thunder will gain draft compensation. The exact draft compensation has not been released.

Mills was acquired by the Rockets from the Brooklyn Nets on July 1.

Heading into the offseason, the Thunder had $33 million to spend, and considering the moves they’ve made thus far, it looks like they are using the money they have to spend to add draft capital.

The Thunder acquired Cason Wallace by absorbing Davis Bertans’ deal and gained two future second-round draft picks from the Miami Heat by acquiring Victor Oladipo’s expiring salary.

It’s unknown what Mills’ future in OKC will look like. In all likelihood, the Thunder will buy out at least one of the expensive veterans they’ve acquired over the last couple of weeks.

If Mills stays on the Thunder, he joins fellow Australians Josh Giddey and Jack White on the roster.

In 40 games last season with the Nets, the 34-year-old averaged 6.2 points on 41.1% shooting, 1.4 assists and 1.1 rebounds. He also shot 36.6% from 3 on 3.4 attempts.

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Report: OKC Thunder sign Vasilije Micic to 3-year, $23.5 million deal

The Thunder finally bring on Vasilije Micic after years of speculation.

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After years of speculation, the Oklahoma City Thunder finally added former EuroLeague MVP Vasilije Micic to their roster.

The Thunder and Micic agreed to a three-year, $23.5 million deal, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Over the last several weeks, it felt like momentum was heading in this direction. Micic visited OKC for the first time, which Thunder general manager Sam Presti commented on following last week’s rookie introductory presser.

“I don’t really have anything specific I can get into right now. He was obviously here, which is great because it’s been something we wanted — to have him on-site at some point — but he’s such an accomplished player. He’s always playing in a tournament or a national team or deep into the summer, but it was great,” Presti told reporters following the presser. “We know him very well. He’s got a great relationship with our organization. But it was really nice to spend some time with him while he was on our soil and it was great. But I couldn’t tell you exactly what that means as of yet.”

With the addition, the Thunder adds one of the best international players. The 29-year-old is a highly decorative guard who has won the EuroLeague championship twice, 2021 and 2022, and the Turkish League championship three times in 2019, 2021 and 2023. He also won the EuroLeague MVP in 2021.

Micic spent the last four seasons with the Anadolu Efes. In 34 games last season, he averaged 17.5 points on 46.1% shooting, 4.6 assists and 2.7 rebounds. He also shot 33.9% from 3.

The Thunder acquired Micic’s draft rights from the Philadelphia 76ers in 2020 in the Al Horford trade. He was drafted in the second round (52nd) of the 2014 NBA draft.

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Report: Thunder acquire Victor Oladipo, draft picks in trade with Heat

The Thunder continue to add draft picks by taking on expiring deals.

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The Oklahoma City Thunder brought back a familiar face on the first day of free agency via a trade.

The Thunder agreed to send a $9.5 million trade exception to the Miami Heat in exchange for Victor Oladipo and draft picks, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Oladipo is an expiring salary and is owed $9.5 million in the 2023-24 season. The 31-year-old suffered a torn patellar tendon on his left knee on April 23. The injury will likely cost him most — if not all — of next season.

It’s unknown if the Thunder will keep Oladipo on their roster as he will likely never suit up for them. If he stays, it will mark his second stint at OKC. Oladipo spent one season with the Thunder (2016-17) before he was traded to the Indiana Pacers for Paul George.

In 42 games last season, Oladipo averaged 10.7 points on 39.7% shooting, 3.5 assists and three rebounds. He also shot 33% from 3 on five attempts.

The Thunder entered the offseason with more than $30 million to spend in cap space and have essentially used that to buy more draft capital with this trade and the Cason Wallace draft night trade that attached Davis Bertans’ contract.

UPDATE: The Thunder reportedly acquired the Heat’s 2029 and 2030 second-round picks while sending a second-round pick back to the Heat.

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ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski has no plans to tweet picks during the NBA Draft. Should we believe him?

Should we believe Woj? Or will he actually tweet out the picks?

If you don’t like having draft picks spoiled for you, we have great news.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski says that he isn’t going to spoil picks on Twitter this year. Now, the only question is whether or not we should actually believe him.

Of course, this isn’t the first time that the league insider suggested he would not spoil the results of the 2023 NBA Draft.

Who could forget when Woj found a silly loophole and used all sorts of synonyms in the 2018 NBA Draft? The following year, in 2019, he just said “focused on” but he tried a more creative approach again during the 2020 NBA Draft.

Now, however, it sounds like Woj may actually not tweet out the results of the 2023 NBA Draft before it happens on TV. At least that is what he told The Ringer podcaster Ryen Russillo.

Here is more from Woj (via The Ringer):

“Going from Yahoo to ESPN and sort of seeing what the responsibility is on the broadcast and feeling like I need to be more fully engaged in the show … I’m not doing the picks this year … But the pick-by-pick, I don’t think it has value anymore for me or for ESPN.”

Woj says he will focus on breaking any trades that happen and provide “more storytelling” on the TV broadcast. This is good news for basketball fans.

Remember: Last year, fans were very upset at Woj for spoiling draft picks hours before the event even started. My colleague, Prince Grimes, opined about how frustrating it is when picks are tipped on Twitter.

“The reality is that drafts exist. And as they are, they can sometimes make for decent television – which is why they’ll probably always be here.

But you know what ruins that television product? When you already know what’s going to happen. And that’s my most immediate issue with the NBA Draft. When the Orlando Magic, Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets make picks 1, 2 and 3 tonight, there will be little to no suspense. We already know what’s going to happen thanks to Adrian Wojnarowski, the NBA insider for the network that broadcasts the draft.”

As it turned out, however, Woj was actually wrong about two of the first three picks he projected and bettors lost their minds.

Unfortunately, however, there is no way that all reporters agree to this same embargo. We can almost definitely expect the likes of Shams Charania, Chris Haynes, Jake Fischer and others to try to get their scoops out on draft night.

Is it possible for Woj to see Charania and Haynes and Fischer breaking news and resist joining the party himself? We will find out on June 22.

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Woj: Thunder trade several draft picks to Nuggets for protected 2029 first-round pick

Full details on the trade can be found here:

The Oklahoma City Thunder have made a trade less than two weeks prior to the 2023 NBA draft.

The Thunder have traded the least favorable of potentially four 2024 first-round picks, the 37th pick in the 2023 NBA draft and a 2024 second-round pick to the Denver Nuggets in exchange for a protected 2029 first-round pick, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The Thunder could have four first-round picks in next year’s draft — their own, the LA Clippers, a top-four protected Houston Rockets pick and a top-10 protected Utah Jazz pick.

With this trade, the Thunder kicks the can down the road on a first-round pick asset and will no longer face the possibility of having four first-round picks in a single draft class next year.

For the 2023 NBA draft, the Thunder now own only the No. 12 and No. 50 picks.

The 2029 first-round pick could be valuable. Nikola Jokic will be 34 years old by the time that draft class rolls around, so who knows how the Nuggets look by then.

The exact protections on the 2029 first-round pick have not been announced.

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