Clarkson will be with Gilas in Taiwan but won’t play in Jones Cup

Jordan Clarkson put up shots during Gilas’ practice Wednesday night at Meralco Gym. Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Jordan Clarkson will be going to Taiwan for the Jones Cup on Sunday, but won’t play for Gilas Pilipinas which will go up against Chinese Taipei-A, and club teams from South Korea and Russia in its first three games in the tournament.

The 6-foot-5 Clarkson is in the country together with his girlfriend and agent, exploring the possibility of playing with Gilas in the Fiba-Asia Men’s Championship, the continental qualifier for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, in China late next month.

An addition to the Jones Cup team is Marc Pingris, the Star Hotshots forward in the PBA who made a dramatic U-turn on his original decision not to join Gilas this time. Star has reportedly put him on the trading block.

Pingris missed training camp as well as a pocket tournament in Estonia and rejoined Gilas in practice only last Tuesday.

Talk that the San Miguel Corp. group, which owns Star in the PBA, is planning to trade him to other squads has grown loud in the past several days. A very reliable source told the Inquirer that Star had turned down a deal with NLEX over the weekend.

Should the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas get the green light from the International Basketball Federation (Fiba) regarding Clarkson’s eligibility, the Los Angeles Lakers’ star point guard would play as a Filipino for the first time in the MVP Cup next month.

The SBP had already forwarded a copy of Clarkson’s Philippine passport to the Fiba. Clarkson said he has held a PH passport since he was 12, satisfying one critical Fiba rule.