SBP confirms special Gilas draft amid 97-strong pool

The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) has confirmed on Thursday, January 28, that there will be another special Gilas Pilipinas round for the 2021 PBA Rookie Draft on March 14.

SBP president Al Panlilio confirmed in an online press conference that the Gilas coaches have received the final list of applicants following the deadline last Wednesday, January 27, and will get back to the PBA with their choices in a few days’ time.

“Definitely we will look at players, and choose from the existing draft who are qualified to join the national team,” he said. “Regardless of what SBP does, it’s a very strong draft despite the fact that maybe the SBP will get a few names out of that draft But it’s very, very strong, especially with the Fil-foreigners who are coming in.”

”Give us a few days, as I said, to just finalize that, and we will submit it to the PBA for their consideration,” he continued.

One issue that will also be addressed in the coming days is the dynamic behind the third overall pick, which now belongs to the NLEX Road Warriors by way of the Blackwater Elite.

The PBA board will discuss which team will own the Gilas pick prior to the regular draft since Gilas has the option to give back players to their mother teams. NLEX also owns the fourth pick for both rounds if ever Gilas picks more than 3 players.

As the final frantic days of the submission window winded down, a handful of Gilas cadets tossed in their names to the massive 97-man pool for this year, including NCAA MVP Calvin Oftana, UAAP champion Will Navarro, and UAAP finalist Jaydee Tungcab.

Other cadets like La Salle center Justine Baltazar and UP forward Javi Gomez de Liaño, however, opted out of the draft to likely play one last year for their respective schools.

In 2019, the national team selected their first 5 full-time players, namely Isaac Go (Terrafirma), Rey Suerte (Blackwater), Allyn Bulanadi (Alaska), and twin brothers Matt (NLEX) and Mike Nieto (Rain or Shine). – Rappler.com