Peña now with Ginebra after three-team trade

MANILA, Philippines – Three teams. Three big men.

The PBA Office of the Commissioner approved on Tuesday, February 3 a trade that will send Dorian Peña to Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, Jay-R Reyes to the San Miguel Beermen, and Justin Chua to Barako Bull Energy.

The trade happened following Ginebra’s one-point loss against Barako Bull on Sunday, February 1.

Peña, 37, is expected to add muscle to a Ginebra frontcourt featuring twin towers Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar who are often called out for being “soft”. The Gin Kings currently hold a 0-2 win-loss record in the, PBA 2015 Commissioner’s Cup. Ginebra will also get Barako Bull’s 2015 second round pick.

Reyes, 30, will join the 2015 Philippine Cup champions San Miguel Beer and will be expected to back-up reigning PBA MVP June Mar Fajardo along with former Ginebra frontliners Doug Kramer and Rico Maeirhofer.

Chua will end up in his third team since entering the league in 2013. The 25-year-old will join other young big men in the Barako lineup like Dave Marcelo and Jake Pascual. The energy also acquired the Beermen’s 2017 first round pick.

Curious exchange

All three big men were seldom-used during their stints in their previous teams. Peña had been sidelined for a while and just joined the Barako lineup in the team’s game against Ginebra. He likely won’t see much playing time with the Gin Kings and will be probably tasked mostly to help mentor Ginebra’s young big men on how to throw their weight inside the shaded area.

Reyes will find himself from one stacked lineup to another. It will be interesting to see if Reyes can supplant Kramer as the primary back-up for Fajardo.

The two offer something different for the Beermen. While both have shown the ability to rebound and shoot from the perimeter, Kramer is more the bruiser type and has more strength to battle against heftier slot men.

Reyes, at 6-foot-7, is longer. While he has shown some post moves in the past, the big man prefers to play around the perimeter popping out for a jumper instead of rolling to the basket during pick-and-roll plays.

Chua, after riding the San Miguel bench for a few conferences, might find himself back on the playing court for Barako. He and Marcelo have a similar game – big men who can knock down the perimeter jumper.

None of the players involved in this trade are part of the regular rotation. It will be interesting to see who contributes most to their new ball clubs.

What do you think of this trade? Let us know in the comments below.

– Rappler.com