PBA: Battle begins for Troy Rosario’s services

The Troy Rosario sweepstakes has officially begun, and among the teams scurrying to land the versatile forward is TNT, the very team that traded him two years ago.

“Just got off meeting with Troy today … and we laid out plans for Troy and we gave him a fairly good offer,” team manager Jojo Lastimosa told the Inquirer on Friday.

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“Troy said he’ll take an audit,” Lastimosa added. “Of course, because he’s a free agent, there might be other teams that might want to explore signing him up which is fine with us.”

Team owner Manny V. Pangilinan, governor Ricky Vargas and head coach Chot Reyes were present in the sit-down with the four-time All-Star and a member of the 2021 Philippine Cup championship Tropang Giga squad, who was shipped out in a deal to land then-rising star Calvin Oftana and, eventually, Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser.

Rosario became an unrestricted free agent on Wednesday after he and his old team Blackwater were unable to agree on a contract extension.

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The Inquirer has learned from a separate source that both San Miguel and Barangay Ginebra expressed their interest in reeling in Rosario earlier this year. Doing so will bring the hardworking forward over to the San Miguel bloc, a rival of the MVP group that Rosario has served for nearly seven seasons. However, that also means he risks losing a big chunk of minutes in star-studded rosters when he is supposedly still at the peak of his career.

Lastimosa said Rosario did not disclose the other teams interested in his services. “But we all know who they are. We know who are the teams who have the capacity to offer Troy similar to what we can offer.”

A different Inquirer source said that the Blackwater management’s extension offer to Rosario ahead of the PBA’s 49th season was “very competitive.”

“It’ll be very surprising if he gets that offer somewhere else,” said the source, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Media reports also have it that Rosario is being recruited by B.League teams which are courting the Mandaluyong native with lucrative paychecks. Rosario, however, could be lukewarm to a stint in Japan as he now has three children and would be undersized for an import in a league that employs bigger and much more athletic talents from the other side of the world.

Improved culture

The Inquirer also reached out to Blackwater coach Jeff Cariaso on Friday afternoon, and he is still hoping Rosario finds his way back to Bossing.

“I think there’s still an open door for that. The door’s still open for me. I still want him on the team,” he said. “At the end of the day, my hope is Troy still chooses Blackwater. He’s seen what we’ve been building here, he’s seen the growth in the team, he’s seen the culture has improved,” Cariaso said.

“I understand the rules, I understand Troy—he has the right to explore what’s out there. He’s made that choice. It’s really something that I’ve accepted … We understand the rules—we understand that he’s done his seven years and we respect that. Under the rules, he should be eligible for free agency.”

With Rosario as its cornerstone, Blackwater gradually regained its competitive edge. From just finishing with a single victory in a tournament, the Bossing went to winning four of its 10 games in the last season’s Philippine Cup and, with capable pieces like rookie Sedrick Barefield and import George King, the club nearly made the playoffs after winning half of their assignments in the 2024 Governors’ Cup.

“I hope that the way we do things at Blackwater not only improved him on the court but also his growth as a person. Character is everything to us,” Cariaso said of his former player.

“Hopefully, there was value in what we’ve instilled in him. And I hope he can carry that in everything he does.” INQ

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