Philippine PBA Trades, Releases, Sign-ups, Rumours (vol. III)

[Big Ticket]

Why does the 2 year sit out rule not apply if he is offered max contract? I think it's so unfair for the player.

No unrestricted free agency in the pba yet...its to protect their mother teams...

[greenarcher]

pbaconnect @pbaconnect 36s

CORNLEY OUT, REID IN FOR ELASTO PAINTERS’ TITLE DEFENSE

[balbi]

MANILA, Philippines - PBA commissioner Chito Salud isn’t closing the league’s doors to more teams and said recently expansion may be the way of the future although there are no entities in line to make the jump at the moment.

“I think we’re ready to bring in two more teams, considering the quality and quantity of the players out there,” said Salud. “To be honest, there are no immediate takers at present but I’m sure we’ll have some soon. Two groups are interested to join but their capability to operate a franchise on a sustained basis is still being reviewed. The PBA is definitely on the upswing with record live attendance and TV ratings in the recent Commissioner’s Cup. We expect the same or even a stronger showing in the Governors Cup. We’ve been receiving inquiries from different companies about the requirements of a franchise. In time, we should be geared up for expansion.”

An owner of a PBA D-League team is now looking into the possibility of combining resources with a business partner to make a bid for a PBA franchise, whether existing or not.

What makes the PBA a sound business investment is its balance of power, meaning no one franchise dominates the three conferences in each season. The unpredictable nature of the competition makes for an exciting game. In the last four conferences dating back to the previous season, four different teams won championships – B-Meg in the 2012 Commissioner’s Cup, Rain Or Shine in the 2012 Governors Cup, Talk ‘N’ Text in the 2013 Philippine Cup and Alaska in the 2013 Commissioner’s Cup. In the last eight conferences, seven different teams made it to the Finals, another indication of parity.

Salud said he wasn’t surprised that in the recent Commissioner’s Cup Finals, live attendance and TV ratings were sky-high. “The only thing that surprised me was it ended so soon,” said Salud referring to Alaska’s 3-0 sweep of Ginebra San Miguel. “There was actually no need to hype the series. One team was on top of the standings from the start and entered the Finals as the No. 1 seed and the other came from behind to make it as the No. 7 seed. It made for an extremely entertaining series. The storyline, narratives and dimensions of the match-ups were unique to the Finals which made it special. I’m hoping that every team in the PBA eventually gets to experience and enjoy the Finals.”

According to figures released by TV5, Game 3 of the Commissioner’s Cup Finals registered a peak of almost four million viewers during the fourth quarter, representing a 31.2 percent audience share for the exciting finish. The contest placed sixth at the most-watched show in MEGATAM (Metro Manila and suburbs TV Audience Measurement) and tied at eighth in NUTAM (National Urban TV Audience Measurement) of the top 15 evening programs based on Nielsen Media Research overnight data.

As for Alaska’s emergence, Salud said he always knew the Gatas Republik was a sleeping giant. “Alaska has a large base of fans and it took this return to the Finals to wake them up and bring them back to the coliseum,” he said.

An attraction of the recent Commissioner’s Cup was the quality of imports. “Four teams never changed imports,” said Salud, referring to Alaska with Rob Dozier, Rain Or Shine with Bruno Sundov, Air 21 with Michael Dunigan and Meralco with Eric Dawson. “Barako would’ve been the fifth but they opted to change (Evan) Brock late in the conference. Petron probably wouldn’t have changed (Renaldo) Balkman if he wasn’t suspended. The only imports who may have underachieved were Herbert Hill and Henry Sims. Otherwise, we were treated to an outstanding crop of imports.”

In the Governors Cup starting Aug. 14, the height limit for imports is 6-5 and so far, the word is the quality will be the same as or higher than the previous conference.

Salud said credit to the PBA’s success goes to the team owners for their unconditional support. “I rely heavily on the team owners’ wisdom and experience,” he said. “On certain vital issues, I make the round of calls to reach out to the team owners for guidance and instructions.”

*Direction from the Board of Governors has also been essential in bringing us to where we are today.”

Source: http://www.philstar.com/sports/2013/...e-2-more-teams

Pips, what's your take on this? For me, i think it will be a good idea to have additonal teams. Talents will now be distributed and will give more playing time for players with potential but stay on the bench most of the time on their current teams. It will create more superstars and hopefully more fan bases. With a blooming economy, i think the pba now is a good marketing and advertising strategy for companies. I hope this plan to have 2 expansion teams will push through.

[Spenz]

Its always a good idea to expand the league, they always talk about it whenever they have a banner season. The problem is that PBA owners are also more concerned about their franchise more than the league. When it was popular to lend their players for the national team, all of a sudden they where all for it. What I am saying is that it is just another publicity stunt and it would never materialise. All good in paper but it will never happen.

[killmebusy]

Pips, what's your take on this? For me, i think it will be a good idea to have additonal teams. Talents will now be distributed and will give more playing time for players with potential but stay on the bench most of the time on their current teams. It will create more superstars and hopefully more fan bases. With a blooming economy, i think the pba now is a good marketing and advertising strategy for companies. I hope this plan to have 2 expansion teams will push through.

gonna be awesome if they expand...cebuana is a prime candidate for moving up to the pba. the pba market fits their market perfectly while they have been rumored to move up for some time now. lhuillier was also a part owner of cebu gems before iirc. aside from that it's only phoenix petroleum who is interested but can't coz of the presence of petron.

[Silent Killer]

gonna be awesome if they expand...cebuana is a prime candidate for moving up to the pba. the pba market fits their market perfectly while they have been rumored to move up for some time now. lhuillier was also a part owner of cebu gems before iirc. aside from that it's only phoenix petroleum who is interested but can't coz of the presence of petron.

i suspect the other one will be NLEX team.

[balbi]

gonna be awesome if they expand...cebuana is a prime candidate for moving up to the pba. the pba market fits their market perfectly while they have been rumored to move up for some time now. lhuillier was also a part owner of cebu gems before iirc. aside from that it's only phoenix petroleum who is interested but can't coz of the presence of petron.

i think it will be exciting to have the cebu/cebuana lhuillier gems play in the pba. a brand new team playing in their homecourt whenever there's an out of town game in cebu.

i suspect the other one will be NLEX team.

3rd team for mvp to counter the 3 teams from SMC. maybe the other one is NLEX.

[unstopaball12]

gonna be awesome if they expand...cebuana is a prime candidate for moving up to the pba. the pba market fits their market perfectly while they have been rumored to move up for some time now. lhuillier was also a part owner of cebu gems before iirc. aside from that it's only phoenix petroleum who is interested but can't coz of the presence of petron.

Too bad Cebuana shot down this rumor already. As they stated if they join PBA they wont be able to fund the different sports they are in to. Sucks though, because Cebuana looks like a team that wotnbe a farm team of the big companies.

[Silent Killer]

from twitter

snow badua@snowbadua4m
HULA-HOOP: Si coach pala pinaproject ng palitan kaso may matinding kapit sa taas. Pero tip ko sa nyo. Magaling at mabait ang pwedeng ipalit.


trans: i guess, ryan gregorio.

[Silent Killer]

http://www.spin.ph/sports/basketball...co-air21-trade

Sources: Air21 willing to part with Cortez, two others to acquire Taulava

By Snow Badua

June 03, 2013, 11:07 am


BARANGAY Ginebra wants Asi Taulava, but it seems the Kings face stiff competition for the ageless slotman.

On Monday, Spin.ph learned that the Air21 Express are also in hot pursuit of the former PBA MVP, whose inspired play with the San Miguel Beermen in the ABL has rekindled interest from PBA teams in dire need of a big man.

One of them is Air21, which after its failed bid for a trade with Meralco involving Taulava at the start of the Commissioner's Cup has sweetened the pot with a new offer that now includes top guard Mike Cortez.

According to team insiders, Air21 is now willing to part with Noy Baclao, John Wilson, and Cortez so it can get its hands on Meralco's Ronjay Buenafe, Jay-R Reyes, and the rights to Taulava.

“Hinihintay lang namin sila. Ang tagal na nito, pero we’ll be patient with them ... kung talagang gusto nila yung trade,” said a source from Air 21 about the revised trade offer.

Meralco team manager Butch Antonio, for his part, admitted hearing about the trade offer but denied having direct knowledge about it.

He also said the Air21 offer is just one of several trade proposals floating around.

“Naririnig ko yun pero walang concrete. Andaming nakalutang (na proposal and balita) pero mahirap naming mag-usap kung wala pang confirmed eh,” said Antonio, who is also the manager of Gilas Pilipinas.

“Status quo pa kami sa Meralco,” Antonio added. “I still have to get the feedback from the coaching staff… nag meet pa lang sila nung Friday eh.”

As for Ginebra's insterest in Taulava, the amiable team official said: “Hindi kami ang hihingi ng ipapalit kay Asi. They have to offer us saka kami sasagot. Sila ang may kailangan eh.”

Follow the writer on Twitter: @snowbadua

[reamily]

Overkill trade.. trading Asi rights, Jayr and Ronjay borderline talented PBA players for Mike Cortez as Wilson and Baclao are really role players..

[st_ang3r]

Air21? are they sure? or will they ship the to Ginebra?

Overkill trade.. trading Asi rights, Jayr and Ronjay borderline talented PBA players for Mike Cortez as Wilson and Baclao are really role players..

[reamily]

Air21? are they sure? or will they ship the to Ginebra?

The issue isn't the empire is willing to give Mike Cortez to Meralco for Asi but Meralco willing to give Ronjay and Jayr to Air 21 just to get Mike ..

[Spenz]

After a resurgent season/half season for Cortez he suddenly became a valuable piece. . . . I think there are better guards than him in the PBA.

[reamily]

After a resurgent season/half season for Cortez he suddenly became a valuable piece. . . . I think there are better guards than him in the PBA.

Not exactly better but "younger" and healthier. All along he has an allergy on painkillers. Sure its a headache if he was tasked to play thru "pain" now we knew why Alaska traded him..Thru the coming years the point guard pool will be even more deeper although a player as cerebral like him is once in a blue moon though...