Chan to Phoenix
Rain or Shine dealt away another vital piece of its two PBA championships under former coach Yeng Guiao on Monday as it sent Jeff Chan to Phoenix Petroleum in exchange for Mark Borboran and a second-round Draft pick.
Chan, the 10-year shooting guard, will thus make his appearance for a third PBA team after being acquired by the Elasto Painters from Red Bull around 2009, when Guiao was starting to form what would become one of the league’s best squads.
The Painters have never been the same ever since Guiao left Rain or Shine at the end of last season to take up a job at rebuilding NLEX.
Chan said he is grateful for his time with Rain or Shine and hopes to make an impact with his new team.
“I’m excited and I hope that I can help Phoenix make it to the playoffs,” the 33-year-old Chan said.
“I told [the team] that I can do whatever they want from me,” the 2012 Governors’ Cup Finals MVP added. “Again, I just want to help the team make it to the playoffs.”
Before Chan, the Rain or Shine management let go franchise player Paul Lee, practically hours after news of the Guiao transfer to NLEX broke.
Lee is now with Star and a big part of the Hotshots’ future.
What Lee is to the Hotshots is what Phoenix coach Ariel Vanguardia hopes he can get from Chan, a native of Bacolod who had an outstanding collegiate career at Far Eastern U.
“I hope he can have the same impact with us like what Paul Lee has with Star,” Vanguardia said even as he also sees Chan’s arrival as a chance for Matthew Wright to learn a thing or two about being one of the best outside guns in the league.
The Painters had also dealt away JR Quiñahan to GlobalPort before the Batang Pier made a deal a few months later that reunited him with Guiao at NLEX.
Rain or Shine won last season’s Commissioner’s Cup with Pierre Henderson-Niles as an import but bombed out in the quarterfinals of its title defense.
The Painters and Fuel Masters are still awaiting approval of the trade from the office of commissioner Chito Narvasa.
Chan has career averages of almost 11 points, 2.9 rebounds and two assists. He played for Gilas Pilipinas several times, including the 2013 Fiba Asia in Manila where the country finished second to Iran.
