At the end of May, Los Angeles Times columnist JA Adande accepted one of the many buyouts offered by his paper and became a free agent. (You can read his farewell column here. It should also be noted that the Times didn’t take long to find his replacement.)

The buzz at the NBA Finals last week was that Adande is getting a job as an NBA columnist in some capacity at ESPN (likely, on the .com and in the mag, plus the usual TV appearances). It shouldn’t come as a surprise that he’d leap to ESPN - he’s been appearing on Around the Horn for the past few years. Here’s what may surprise you - word on the street is Adande was in talks with Sports Illustrated to be a features writer - a position that 10 years ago was one of the most coveted in all of sports - and turned the Sports Bible down. (We would have attempted to get confirmation from Adande, but he hasn’t been a fan of our work since this incident at the Super Bowl. If you’re out there, JA, feel free to drop us a line.)

If Adande indeed turned down SI, not only is this a devastating blow for Sports Illustrated - a magazine that has been gutted by its top rival and through job cuts, and is left with just three names you know: Peter King, Michael Silver, and Gary Smith - but for journalism altogether. (If you’re wondering what kind of money Adande may have gotten, we’re not going down that road - the last time we talked salary, it caused a minor uproar, and we don’t need anyone at ESPN trying to muscle us into taking down a post.)

Here’s how we read this: why would any top-tier journalist want to do actual work - you know, getting out in the field, conducting interviews, unearthing compelling stories, leaving your sofa - when they can offer a dimestore opinion on TV and in a ‘column?’ Who wants to do actual work? Here’s what 95% of journalists crave - and you can hardly blame them - money and TV exposure. And ESPN can deliver both. With a few exceptions - for example, Fox (baseball) and CBS (NCAA tournament) - ESPN’s going to win just about every bidding war for talent, even if it means being a small fish in a big pond.

As for how Adande will fit in at ESPN … by our count, the four-letter has six writers offering their opinions on the NBA and Adande would make seven (eight if you want to count Bill Simmons). Sure, ESPN has invested heavily into the NBA, but with ratings this low, are this many bodies needed?

It won’t happen, but let’s say Kobe gets traded. Who gets the desired air-time on the 6 pm Sportscenter? Kobe’s boy, Ric Bucher? Stephen A. Smith? Adande? Will Simmons be brought in for comedic relief? At the LA Times, Adande may have even gotten A1 treatment on such a story. How will he take being relegated to the third or fourth voice on the subject? Aww, who cares … for the coin he may be making, Adande probably wouldn’t mind being the 10th voice.