PBA to take ‘second look’ at concessions given to 3 new teams

pba.inquirer.net

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Basketball Association on Friday said that it will review the initial concessions given to the three expansion teams to allow them to build a competitive line-up for the upcoming 40th PBA season.

The PBA Board of Governors on Thursday accepted Ever Bilena (Blackwater Sports), Columbia Automotive Corporation (Kia Motors), and Metro Pacific Investments (NLEX) into the league to hike the number of teams to an all-time high of 13.

With Kia Motors having no existing team, all the three newcomers were not allowed to hire amateur players directly. They will have to go through the rookie draft, expansion draft, and free agency to get quality troops for their maiden year.

But PBA Commissioner Chito Salud said in a statement that “while initial concessions had been granted, the Board of Governors has agreed to take a second look at these preliminary concessions for the purpose of giving the three expansion teams the opportunity to have a competitive lineup.”

“The challenge before us in the Office of the Commissioner and the Board of Governors is how to address the formation of the lineups of the different applicants.”

Under the initial agreement set by the board on Thursday, all the 10 clubs will be allowed to protect 14 players from their rosters while opening the rest for the expansion draft, from which NLEX, Ever Bilena, and Kia Motors will pick some of their players.

The expansion clubs were also given the 11th, 12th, 13th picks in the first round of the 2014 PBA Rookie Draft.

Salud said that they will discuss the matter further on April 24 during the next board meeting.

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