Big men top choices in PBA draft today

SLAUGHTER: Top pick nuki sabio/pba images

GREG Slaughter—unless something drastic happens—will be chosen first overall by Barangay Ginebra in today’s Annual PBA Draft, which boasts one of the deepest pools in years, at Robinson’s Place in Manila.

The 7-foot former Ateneo ace will be the second tallest homegrown player to ever come out of the Draft after the 7-foot-2 EJ Feihl, who was also tapped by the Gin Kings as No. 2 overall in 1995.

San Mig Coffee owns the second pick and the Mixers, the newly crowned Governors’ Cup champions, will select former San Sebastian ace Ian Sangalang, before Rain or Shine chooses reigning NCAA MVP Raymond Almazan third.

But there will be more than meets the eye during—and after—draft day, with selected rookies ending up somewhere else before the season starts.

Barako Bull, for example, owns the next three selections but sources say all of them will be dealt away in trades shortly before the 4 p.m. start of the exercise gets going.

One thing sure, however, is that the Energy will deal the sixth overall pick to Globalport in exchange for Denok Miranda.

Globalport, which has yet to make a Final Four series in its short PBA existence, is interested in ex-Santo Tomas star Jeric Teng.

The Batang Pier also have the seventh pick, before Alaska, Rain or Shine and San Mig round out the first round of selections.

Alaska, which won a championship last season  in its first year of rebuilding, is setting its sights on another former Ateneo hotshot in Nico Salva, a left-handed forward who could be big at the shooting guard spot but short in the power forward position.
Slaughter will become the second straight center to be picked first overall after June Mar Fajardo of Petron Blaze last year.

And his arrival in the PBA will rekindle his memorable battles with the 6-foot-9 Fajardo in their native Cebu, where both giants battled for supremacy there until Slaughter hooked up with Ateneo three years ago.

Six applicants were stricken off the original list of 85 after failing to appear for the biometrics test last week, among them, former Santo Tomas starting guard Japs Cuan.

James Forrester, who suited up for Arellano in the NCAA, is also a prospective first rounder like former FEU hotshots RR Garcia and Terrence Romeo.