WNBA Expansion Team Portland Fire Hires Former Sports Journalist

The Portland Fire have hired Ben Pickman, who previously covered the league for The Athletic, as a salary cap and strategy analyst. Pickman will report to Fire GM Vanja Černivec, whom the team hired away from the Golden State Valkyries. The Fire are one of two WNBA expansion teams that will begin play this year. Pickman spent the past three years at The Athletic as one of its lead WNBA and womens college basketball writers. Before that, he spent four years at Sports Illustrated. He is the latest reporter to join a basketball teams front office, following a trend of journalists transitioning into executive roles.