Chris Haynes set to hit free agency after 5-year stint with TNT: Reports
In the NBA, it’s not just the players who enter the free agency market — reporters, like Chris Haynes, covering the league do as well. Haynes, one of the league’s prominent newsbreakers, is reportedly set to leave TNT after five years and test the waters of free agency.
The New York Post was the first to report on Chris Haynes’ decision to depart from TNT. According to the report, Haynes’ contract with TNT Sports is about to expire, and he's expected to leave the network.
TNT lost out in the competition for the NBA’s new media rights deal, as the league secured a new $76 billion, 11-year contract with ESPN/ABC, NBCU and Amazon Prime Video.
Chris Haynes has been an insider and sideline reporter for TNT since 2019. Besides his television appearances, he also writes, most recently for Bleacher Report. Previously, he worked for Yahoo and ESPN, and he hosts an NBA podcast, “#thisleague UNCUT,” alongside fellow insider Marc Stein.
Haynes is particularly known for having the most access to Milwaukee Bucks star Damian Lillard. He was among the first to break the news of Lillard’s trade from the Portland Trail Blazers to Milwaukee and extensively covered Lillard’s initial trade request out of Portland.
Apart from Chris Haynes, Shams Charania is also entering free agency
Shams Charania, who works for The Athletic, Stadium and FanDuel, is also set to hit free agency. Charania is one of the top insiders, especially during the league’s trade and free agency periods.
Charania, who started his career covering the Chicago Bulls for ChicagoNow, a subsidiary of the Chicago Tribune, has grown into one of the most respected insiders in the NBA, amassing 2.3 million followers on X (formerly Twitter).
In 2012, Charania began writing for RealGM. He then joined Yahoo Sports, where he worked alongside Adrian Wojnarowski, who later left for ESPN and became Charania's main rival in insider duties.
In 2018, Charania left Yahoo Sports for The Athletic and Stadium. He later became a paid contributor for the sports gambling company FanDuel, a relationship that has drawn criticism due to potential conflicts of interest.
A 2023 Wall Street Journal article highlighted this conflict after Charania had reported during the 2023 NBA Draft that Scoot Henderson was gaining momentum to be the No. 2 overall pick.
Following his post, odds shifted, but his report didn’t materialize as expected — Brandon Miller was selected by the Hornets at No. 2, while Henderson fell to No. 3, where he was picked by the Trail Blazers.