D-League rookie draft attracts 155

Moala Tautuaa and Jeramy King, NBA unrestricted agents with Filipino roots, lead over a hundred hopefuls in the 2014 Rookie Draft of the PBA D-League on Monday.

Both at 6-foot-7, Tautuaa, an American born Filipino-Tongan, and King, a Filipino-American guard, hope to take a crack at the PBA this time, but they have to see action first in the pro league’s developmental tournament.

Tautuaa, who’s currently seeing action for the Kuala Lumpur Dragons in the Asean Basketball League (ABL), was snubbed during the 2012 NBA Rookie Draft, while King was also undrafted in the 2014 exercise.

A total of 155 players, including 18 foreigners with Filipino roots, signed up for the Draft where Cagayan Valley holds the No. 1 pick.

“We are very happy with the interest generated by our Rookie Draft,” said PBA commissioner Chito Salud. “The list indicates that we have a rich pool of talent to select from. After going through the list, I am convinced that we will have a very competitive 2015 season.”

The fifth season fires off with the Aspirants Cup on Oct. 27.

Tanduay Light will pick second in the Draft set at 1 p.m. at  PBA Office in Libis, Quezon City.

Café France, Cebuana Lhuillier, Jumbo Plastic and Wangs Basketball will select next, while new teams AMA University, Bread Story, Hapee Toothpaste, M-Builders, MP Hotel and Racal Motorsales Corp. will pick after the draft order lottery on the same day.