‘Frustrated’ Gavina would love to keep Kia’s No. 1 pick

Kia coach Chris Gavina. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

At this point, nothing surprises Kia coach Chris Gavina anymore.

That’s why he couldn’t hide his frustrations following the news about the Picanto’s latest head-scratching move to ship trade the rights to this year’s top pick to San Miguel.

“On a scale of one to 10, [my frustration is] maybe a 12,” he said.

Gavina was at the PBA Draft Combine on Monday, trying to keep a straight face while discussing the possible moves of his team.

Reports said that Kia is getting a bunch of San Miguel reserves, a future first rounder, and a boat load of cash in exchange for the No. 1 pick.

Gavina, though, did not want to comment on the reported deal and said even he is left in the dark when it comes to management’s moves.

“I can’t confirm it. I’m learning just as much as everyone else as I read things and hear about things as well. I’m asking my management also, like, ‘Is this true?’ You just kind of wait it out and see what happens,” he said.

Gavina is keeping his fingers crossed that the deal won’t push through.

“Nothing’s set in stone. I don’t know what the board’s going to do, whether they’re going to accept it or not, so whether we keep it is a tossup right now. I’d love to keep it, but you know, there’s some higher powers that be that might not agree.”

Gavina, however, knows he is at the mercy of the Kia management and said that just like in the past, he has to make do with what he has in his lineup.

“Honestly, it’s not as if I haven’t been in this position before. When I first took over, we gave up our pick and we got legitimate veterans for it, and wind up having a great season,” he said, referring to the time when the team traded second overall pic Troy Rosario to TNT for Aldrech Ramos and Nino Cañaleta back in 2015.

“In my position, you got to kind of live with what you can get sometimes and really, just look to how we’re going to improve with what we have. It comes down to really development. We’ve already started with our skills training as early as last week, probably the first team that came back, so we move forward from there,” he said.

“So whatever the case happens, whether we get Christian or not, I think as long as we get some veteran leadership on the team with championship experience, I think we’ll be able to form a formidable team next year.”