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MANILA, Philippines – The build-up is in full force.
The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) approved Tuesday, February 18 a 7-man, 4-team trade as teams prepare for the mid-season Commissioner’s Cup.
The trade involves the following teams: the San Miguel Beermen (formerly Petron Blaze Boosters), GlobalPort Batang Pier, Barako Bull Energy, and the Air21 Express.
Below is a summary of which team gets who, per the PBA’s official Twitter account:
1. Barako Bull acquired: Leo Najorda, Jason Deutchman, San Miguel’s 2016 and 2017 2nd round picks
2. GlobalPort acquired: Alex Cabagnot, Bonbon Custodio
3. San Miguel Beermen acquired: Sol Mercado, Rico Maierhofer
4. Air 21 acquired: Jonas Villanueva
Most notable among the trades is guard Alex Cabagnot from San Miguel being shipped to GlobalPort in exchange for another guard Sol Mercado.
Mercado, 29, has been a vital source of offense for the young GlobalPort team bannered mostly by rookies such as Terrence Romeo and RR Garcia.
The Filipino-American helped the Batang Pier reach the quarterfinals in the ongoing Philippine Cup conference norming 18.93 points, 4 rebounds and 5.07 assists as he played an average of 37.79 minutes per game, according to pba-online.net.
The 31-year old Cabagnot, who has been with the San Miguel franchise since 2010, averaged 12.38 points, 4.31 rebounds and 5.69 assists during the 2014 Philippine Cup, per pba-online.net. In their last conference bearing the Petron Blaze Boosters name, the franchise got ousted by the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the semifinals that lasted only 5 games.
Cabagnot should provide veteran leadership and experience, especially in big games, to aid the young GlobalPort backcourt.
San Miguel and GlobalPort are two teams undergoing major facelifts with the Batang Pier hiring a new head coach in former University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers coach Pido Jarencio. (READ: End of an era: Pido Jarencio leaves UST, moves to GlobalPort)
San Miguel also has a new leader with previous head coach Gee Abanilla moving to the role of team manager as Biboy Ravanes has been appointed new head coach for the rebuilding franchise.
Ravanes is also said to continue working closely with consultant Todd Purves.
Meanwhile, former San Miguel team manager Siot Tanquingcen has now moved to Barako Bull as a coaching consultant.
The import-laden Commissioner’s Cup will tip off on March 7. – Rappler.com
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