Mac Belo, Kevin Ferrer and Jio Jalalon Photos by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Players picked by PBA teams from the Gilas Pilipinas Cadet pool effectively made up the first round of selections in the recent Draft, with most of them enjoying a salary scale only those picked in the top four.
But with the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas already coming to terms with all but two members of what used to be a 12-man pool of amateur standouts, negotiations won’t be happening anymore as the PBA teams will only get to assume those contracts.
Mac Belo, Jio Jalalon and Kevin Ferrer as well as seven others are already young millionaires after having inked three-year deals with the SBP worth P8.55 million each—the maximum salary scale for top rookies. The SBP will maintain an all-amateur core for the World Cup 2019 Qualifying events.
But in coming to terms with the PBA on how these players can be tapped, Belo and company’s new mother PBA teams get to assume those contracts, broken down into P150,000, P225,000 and P337,500 monthly for the next three seasons.
Blackwater, which tapped Belo first overall, will also be paying the former Far Eastern University ace that much.
The SBP though will pay these players when they are used for the Gilas Pilipinas team, which can happen mid-stream of any conference within the next three seasons.
Those picked in the second round forward cannot demand first-round, top-four rates.
An Inquirer source bared that the initial offer of Blackwater, which tapped Raphael Banal first in the regular Draft, was for a starting pay of P120,000 a month, escalating with a 50-percent increase each season.
Meanwhile, the think-tank of the PBA, from outgoing chair Robert Non of San Miguel Beer down to the last member of the board, and the Commissioner’s Office will be leaving for Seoul, South Korea, today to chart the path the league will take in the new season opening Nov. 20.
Non will turn over the reins to GlobalPort team owner Mikee Romero as he ends yet another chairmanship with a bang highlighted by the box-office success of the Governors’ Cup title series between Barangay Ginebra and Meralco.
Among the topics to be discussed will be the format of the three conferences for the coming season, which will start with the Philippine Cup.