Report: NBA insiders won't reveal incoming picks during draft

Don't expect a steady stream of "Woj bombs" during the 2018 NBA Draft.

ESPN, which is televising Thursday's draft, has informed its reporters not to spoil picks until they've been officially announced on the broadcast, a source told Awful Announcing's Alex Putterman.

The same standard will reportedly be in place for other NBA media partners that don't own the rights to the draft broadcast, including Yahoo Sports and Turner Sports, which owns Bleacher Report and TNT.

"We spoke with our media partners about our preference that ESPN's exclusive broadcast rights be honored," NBA spokesman Mike Bass told Awful Announcing, "but each organization will make its own editorial decisions."

In recent years, media talents from all outlets were free to report their scoops on incoming draft selections minutes before NBA commissioner Adam Silver could even make his way to the podium to make it official. However, with ESPN now employing news breakers like Adrian Wojnarowski, who left Yahoo Sports last summer, it appears to have a vested interest in ensuring the insiders' reporting doesn't undercut the suspense.

Though ESPN's top reporters will apparently still be able to break news on other transactions during the draft, such as trades, the NBA's edict won't prevent some non-rights-holding outlets from spoiling the results.