PBA declares season open for player trades

FILE – PBA commissioner Willie Marcial Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) thawed the ice on player movement on Monday afternoon as it gave teams the green light to trade as some clubs can now start rebuilding—or beefing up even more—even with the 46th season still three months away.

PBA commissioner Willie Marcial, however, is not expecting clubs to field proposals anytime soon, with only ideas explored—legally—at the moment.

“I already issued a memo [to teams] today. But you know, the frenzy only begins when the list of names for the draft is in, or when we’re a week before the Draft day itself,” he told the Inquirer in Filipino over the phone on Monday.

“Once teams get a picture of who the other teams are selecting [in the rookie draft], then the proposals kick in,” he explained.

League officials said the communique was released to teams around 3:30 p.m.

All eyes will be on San Miguel Beer, the dethroned king of the Philippine Cup after coach Leo Austria had hinted at a roster revamp just hours after a botched campaign he said was due to the nucleus of the squad’s collective age. It roused fans on whether they would see an entirely different supporting cast around returning six-time most valuable player June Mar Fajardo.

Newly crowned champion Barangay Ginebra, meanwhile, hopes to keep its roster intact, only expressing interest in regaining estranged big man Greg Slaughter, along with resident import Justin Brownlee, who is currently signed with a club in the United Arab Emirates, until April.

Slaughter, though, was rumored to be a trade bait, which resulted in his sabbatical and eventual fallout with management. He had apologized last week and is set to talk with Ginebra officials on a possible return.

Phoenix Super LPG, one of the surprise performers of the 2020 all-Filipino conference, is currently down to a skeleton crew as nearly half of its players are with expired contracts. An individual familiar to what’s happening in the team previously told the Inquirer during the last tournament that the Fuel Masters are likely to plunge into a personnel facelift by offseason owing to the change in their head coach.

As far as free agents go, two-way star Ray Parks Jr. could be that best available talent, as his contract with Philippine Cup finalist TNT is good for only a year.

“It’s what usually happens,” Marcial said. “There’s barely any activity after the season. Teams only tend to become busy leading up to the Rookie Draft. But in February? March? You can bet on it, the league is very busy.”

The Rookie Draft is scheduled for March 14. PBA Hopefuls—both local and foreign—could file their applications no later than Jan. 27.

The league has set its sights on an April 9 opening, a date that will coincide with its founding anniversary. INQ