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

[Pilyong Husband]

Oooops ... a lot of people have a lot of explaining to do here. I can smell the stench of collusion a mile away.

Hehehe

It seems as if they took a page out of the Bourne Legacy script while they were in town. What we have here is lotsa sneaky, clandestine, covert, behind-the-scenes shenanigans. You are right though, lotsa people have a lot of explaining to do here.

I'm interested to know who leaked the letter of intent/sale. You can't just get a sensitive top-secret transaction document like that (and it is worth 100 million bucks for crying out loud) if you weren't, at the very least, privy to the deal. This means there is somebody (maybe even more than one person) in a very high place from within one of the two parties (SMC or Coca-Cola/Cosmos) involved who is not a very happy camper. My guess ... JB Baylon.

The plot thickens ...

[nardy]

In Huddle

Chaotic situation at Powerade

By Beth Celis
Philippine Daily Inquirer 11:41 pm | Wednesday, February 8th, 2012

For a while there I was tempted to call Powerade governor Jose Bayani “JB” Baylon to inquire if he had been making nocturnal trips to Baclaran again.
Although JB had made it crystal clear in previous interviews that he had walked on his knees down the aisle of the Redemptorist Church not really to ask God for anything but to give thanks for the blessings his Tigers received in the recently concluded PBA conference, this time he has something to fervently pray for: That the Coca-Cola franchise and team be kept intact indefinitely.
But I did not want to put JB in a spot, troubled as he is right now, with the situation at Powerade at its most chaotic ever.
Emotionally vulnerable at this point, the man might be predisposed to say things which he should keep close to his chest, in the process getting him into deeper trouble.

***

Reports that Tiger Marcio Lassiter had been traded to Petron was the first sign that there might be some veracity to speculations that the Coke franchise had been sold.
There is absolutely no way to justify why a marquee player like Lassiter, a vital cog in the Powerade machine, would be let go at any cost.
Will Gary David, Best Player of the just-finished conference, be the next to be traded?
Gary had just renewed his contract with Powerade for another three years at an aggregate sum of P15.1 million. If he gets traded like Lassiter, the team he is traded to needs only to assume his contract.
Because anything can happen during the emergency meeting called by PBA commissioner Chito Salud for tomorrow, there is a possibility that Gary could be traded in haste—say, in the next couple of days.
I was informed that JB had a dinner-meeting with his team late last week, to enlighten them about the Coke situation. Since I didn’t get a feedback on that dinner, I don’t know how much of the actual situation JB revealed to his coach and players, who were all in the dark and had been asking questions.

***

Not only the Powerade team , but perhaps even the PBA Commissioner’s office may not be aware of the actual situation in the Coke camp. More so the other members of the PBA board who, like the Tigers, have been asking questions.
These questions, according to commissioner Salud, “will be discussed openly and with transparency in the best interest of our fans in tomorrow’s meeting which I am looking forward to.”
The commissioner reiterated that any and all sale, transfer or assignment of team franchises “will be valid only upon approval of two-thirds of the 10 member teams.”
“Formal notice must be sent to the PBA Commissioner’s office of any intention to sell by the transfer or team.”
Short of these requisites, the Commissioner said Coke remains a member of good standing, entitled to all rights and obligations of a regular member.

***

This Friday’s meeting is what gives hope to JB, even if the Coke franchise has been sold.
Allow me to present the Barako Bull –Phoenix Petroleum deal as a case in point.
Was it early last year that the Photokina franchise owned by George Chua and family was sold to Phoenix Petroleum ? The Chuas had informed the PBA of its intention to sell and had gotten the nod of the board on the Phoenix sale, short of one more vote to reach the required 2/3 rule.
San Miguel had opposed the entry of Phoenix Petroleum, thus aborting the sale.
This could happen again in tomorrow’s meeting. The Coke sale may not be approved by a 2/3 majority, assuming the issue comes to a vote.
In any case, my unsolicited advise to JB is to make more frequent trips to Baclaran to change the mind of his big boss who sold the Coke franchise.
Because even if the “unauthorized” sale of the Coke franchise is thrown in the trash bin after tomorrow’s meeting, all that JB’s big boss has to do is look for another buyer.
Or maybe JB could pray that he finds none.

[neo]

as far as i know the trade pushed through even before the sale of Sta. Lucia franchise to Meralco. it was when before the board approved the sale.

the issue now is that it was mentioned on a news article that SMB didn't inform the board of the said buying of franchise and the report sez that it was a done deal already. it means that coke has sold the franchise to smb even before the board convened about it if its approved or not.

the main issue right now is clarity whether or not it is true. on saturday perhaps we would know.

and if indeed smc owns the coke franchise, which means they are sister teams already, they are not allowed to trade with each other.

also by the way. theres a rule in the PBA where a corporation cannot own more than three franchise, is it?

i can see SMB will sell the franchise.

of course sale first then the approval of the sale, what's to approve or disapprove without the sale? the sale can be done even without board approval but it does not become official unless approved by the board.

[Jordan Bruiseter]

...I'm interested to know who leaked the letter of intent/sale. You can't just get a sensitive top-secret transaction document like that (and it is worth 100 million bucks for crying out loud) if you weren't, at the very least, privy to the deal. This means there is somebody (maybe even more than one person) in a very high place from within one of the two parties (SMC or Coca-Cola/Cosmos) involved who is not a very happy camper...

The document looks a bit crumpled; leads me to suspect it was provided by the recipient.

I wonder if the date can be considered an ominous sign?

[durden_tyler]

Hehehe

It seems as if they took a page out of the Bourne Legacy script while they were in town. What we have here is lotsa sneaky, clandestine, covert, behind-the-scenes shenanigans. You are right though, lotsa people have a lot of explaining to do here.

I'm interested to know who leaked the letter of intent/sale. You can't just get a sensitive top-secret transaction document like that (and it is worth 100 million bucks for crying out loud) if you weren't, at the very least, privy to the deal. This means there is somebody (maybe even more than one person) in a very high place from within one of the two parties (SMC or Coca-Cola/Cosmos) involved who is not a very happy camper. My guess ... JB Baylon.

The plot thickens ...

But this was what everyone expected, correct? Why are we still acting surprised?

[lovejones]

But this was what everyone expected, correct? Why are we still acting surprised?

I dunno about you but I never expected anyone brave (or stupid) enough to actually leak a classified document like this.
I want more drama!!

[durden_tyler]

I dunno about you but I never expected anyone having the balls (or gross stupidity) to actually leak a classified document like this.

I want more drama!!

The moment Lassiter was traded (well tried being traded...) that was a sign there was an agreement of sale or an eventual sale.
Friday is opening day for the 2nd conference and the board meeting should hog all the headlines as well. Good times to be a basketball fan.

[neo]

I dunno about you but I never expected anyone brave (or stupid) enough to actually leak a classified document like this.
I want more drama!!

hei a little lady was brave (or stupid) enough not just to leak but handover a law-governed confidential document.

then a lawmaker accepted it with gusto and thanked the little lady in public (praising an illegal deed).

onli in the philippines. what else is new.its more fun here.

its indeed nice to wait for the resolution of this coke-smc, lassiter, etc issues.

[Joe Yabuki]

http://www.interaksyon.com/interaktv/pba-puts-lassiter-trade-on-hold

PBA puts Lassiter trade on hold

The PBA has put on hold approval for the proposed trade that would send Powerade star rookie Marcio Lassiter to Petron Blaze in exchange for Noy Baclao and Rey Guevarra.

League commissioner Chito Salud made the decision amid reports that the Powerade Tigers franchise has been sold or in the process of being sold to San Miguel Corporation, which owns the Boosters.

“I don’t want to impute bad faith or anything about the trade, pero hindi naman ako tanga,” said Salud.

Teams owned by the same company are prohibited from trading directly with each other. As commissioner, Salud has the power to veto or revise player transactions before they become final.

The Lassiter deal, which was submitted to Salud’s office on Tuesday, has raised howls of disapproval among officials of other PBA teams. Last week, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that Powerade has already been sold to SMC, which has been denied by Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, Inc., the company that owns the Tigers.

But a document obtained by InterAKTV reveals that the Powerade team was offered for sale to the conglomerate last November.

The report comes on the heels of a banner tournament for the Tigers, perennial whipping boys of the league who made an improbable run to the Philippine Cup finals. A lot of that success could be attributed to the entry of Lassiter, the fourth overall pick in last year’s draft, who ranked third in the whole league in statistical points for the all-Filipino tournament.

PBA chairman Mamerto Mondragon said the league’s Board of Governors will push through with a special meeting on Friday to discuss the Powerade sale and the Lassiter trade. Officials of Coke, meanwhwile, will meet with Salud on Monday to talk about the reported sale.

“I look forward to a more transparent, fair meeting that would be beneficial for the fans,” said Salud.

Meanwhile, reports of Powerade’s sale offer has drawn strong actions from other members of the PBA board.

“I’d like to appeal to the PBA board to show their sense,” said Meralco representative Ramon Segismundo, who added that he expects any sale between Powerade and SMC to encounter rough sailing.

“You need two-thirds of the vote from the board [to have a sale approved]. I don’t think they did their homework. Now they’re encountering problems.”

Another member of the board who requested anonimity, meanwhile, heaved a sigh of relief that the Lassiter deal has not been approved.

“The Board of Governors should think what is good for the league,” the governor said regarding the sale. “In my personal opinion, kailangan lahat padaanin doon sa botohan.”

A high-ranking official from another team, for his part, questioned the timing of the Lassiter deal, especially since the Tigers were coming off a winning run.

“Any other time, you could justify giving a good wing star away to acquire a potential good big in Baclao. Maybe an adjustment, like add a second round draft pick in addition to Rey Guevarra would make it palatable,” said the official.

“But the trade now, after Powerade just got into the finals, defies all conventional wisdom that you give the young core a chance to grow together. And the timing is really off in supposedly addressing your weakness in the paint when the conference now allows unlimited heights for imports.

“Things are not adding up.”

[Pilyong Husband]

But this was what everyone expected, correct? Why are we still acting surprised?

Hell no. Speak for yourself. I never expected things to get this dodgy (and I know dodgy, I come from a family of litigation and tax lawyers ).

I did not expect things to get this ridiculously shady. All SMC really needed to do was wait for Coke/Cosmos to formally announce it's intent to leave the PBA and sell off the franchise. After all, they do have the right of first refusal, hence, they get first crack at it. Am I correct? So why go behind everyone's backs? Any more x-deals in the pipeline? Are there deals sealed with secret handshakes here and there that go beyond the PBA and spill into the corporate landscape?

There's more to this story that's probably even dirtier and stinkier than a public toilet facility. I can imagine that the other members of the PBA board are pissed off about this. This document is quite the smoking gun. Being caught with their hands in the proverbial cookie jar definitely makes either party look disingenuous (at the very least). This whole mess smells. Hahaha ... in terms of drama value, this places just a rung or two below the Corona Impeachment in my book.

Let's see what Salud does. He is, after all, a board member of Petron.

Riveting indeed.

[Pugad-Pagod]

Being caught with their hands in the proverbial cookie jar definitely makes either party look disingenuous (at the very least).

Let's see what Salud does. He is, after all, a board member of Petron.

Ahahahaha!!!

*cue kick@ss AC/DC music*

DIRTY DEEDS DONE DIRT CHEAP!!!


Just my theory - I think SMC jumped the gun way ahead of everybody else so that they get first pickings on Powerade's top talents (like Marcio) throughout the next two conferences. Gary, JV, Sean, Doug, et al might've been next within the year.

In the likely event of a dispersal draft/fire sale, all that would be left for the other teams are the scrubs and bench players. Remember, if/when they do eventually purchase the franchise, Petron/BGK/Bmeg cannot directly acquire Powerade's players anymore. Although I'm sure the Lina Group would've been more than happy to act as a conduit. What else is new?

And yes, I am quite anxious about what the "good" Kume will do. Will he be a "good" Petron board member or will he be a "good" PBA Commissioner ... as in, magkano kaya ang commission ... hehehe jk jk jk

He seems genuinely pissed off though.

[digitalsuperman]

of course sale first then the approval of the sale, what's to approve or disapprove without the sale? the sale can be done even without board approval but it does not become official unless approved by the board.

i don't think so.but im not sure though.

case in point the photokina franchise - phoenix petroleum.

the chua's declared its intention first to the board of selling their franchise to phoenix petroleum. they voted. didn't get 2/3 of the votes. thus no sale.

i might be wrong though. im no insider

its me based on reading a lot of news articles and blogs.

[Pugad-Pagod]

i don't think so.but im not sure though.

case in point the photokina franchise - phoenix petroleum.

the chua's declared its intention first to the board of selling their franchise to phoenix petroleum. they voted. didn't get 2/3 of the votes. thus no sale.

i might be wrong though. im no insider

its me based on reading a lot of news articles and blogs.

Oh yeah. I do remember that. Chua was practically on his knees, begging for the sale of his franchise to Phoenix so he could get some financial relief for his Photokina business (unpaid employee wages and whatnot). Unfortunately for him, the SMC block (+ Air21 of course) ... este ... the PBA board pala ... said no.

It does seem highly illogical to sell a franchise with "finality," and then later on having the entire "legally binding contract" rescinded by people outside the buyer and seller. It does seem like a PBA franchise owner has to first bring the matter of "intent-to-sell" before the board, who will then approve/disapprove by virtue of a vote.

[digitalsuperman]

Oh yeah. I do remember that. Chua was practically on his knees, begging for the sale of his franchise to Phoenix so he could get some financial relief for his Photokina business (unpaid employee wages and whatnot). Unfortunately for him, the SMC block (+ Air21 of course) ... este ... the PBA board pala ... said no.

It does seem highly illogical to sell a franchise with "finality," and then later on having the entire "legally binding contract" rescinded by people outside the buyer and seller. It does seem like a PBA franchise owner has to first bring the matter of "intent-to-sell" before the board, who will then approve/disapprove by virtue of a vote.

somehow i can't help but think that Air21 got a handsome sum from that vote

[ariel_muhlach]

Even though the PBA Board of Governors could disapprove the sale of the Powerade PBA Franchise to the SMC Group and PBA Commissioner Chito Salud could disallow the Lassiter Trade to Petron however the PBA cannot dictate the Coca-cola Management to maintain its PBA Team if the MultiNational Corporation with one of the most recognizable brands in the world saying it has a different direction in mind with their Marketing Plans.

Please note the Coca-cola Company unlike the Photokina Franchise is not in dire straights financially. So its not that desperate to sell its PBA Franchise at a bargain price.

So I do see Powerade following the footsteps of Shell and just walk-away if ever the 100 million peso sale of the Powerade PBA Frachise to SMC is disapproved and if no other company could give the same kind of offer.

Just like Shell, Coke could very much withstand whatever loses it could incur by exiting the PBA and actually save some money by no longer paying the expensive salaries of the players plus the other high maintenance costs of a PBA team. That would mean one more less team in the league.

http://www.mb.com.ph/node/133702

Shell disbands; Alaska gets Alvarez
DL Cruz also joins Turbos; other players on trading block
By dominic menor
August 3, 2005, 8:00am

PILIPINAS SHELL formally announced yesterday its decision to leave the Philippine Basketball Association scene and relinquish the franchise of its professional basketball team starting next season.Because the players were being traded or left to be picked in the open market, Shell effectively disbanded its team. But rather than use this word, the team called their exit “leave of absence” which will be effective for one year.

Shell, which joined the PBA in 1985, said it will cool its heels until next year or until such time that it assesses whether "to come back to the league or not."

No PBA team, however, has come back from a "leave of absence" and played again in the league. Even teams with championship records such as Crispa, Toyota, Great Taste, U-Tex and many others soon became history.

As this developed, two of Shell’s marquee players – Tony dela Cruz and Rich Alvarez – were sent to Alaska via trade.

Two more Shell players will also be seen in new uniforms. But Kanapi said he has yet to sign the contract proposals of Ronald Tubid and Billy Mamaril who are on their way to FedEx and Coke, respectively.

"After 20 years with the PBA, we feel that we have contributed to the development of the league," Kanapi said.

"The franchise is still there because it’s just a leave of absence. A decision will be made later on. But now we’re more geared at sustainable-development programs."

"We have enjoyed two decades with the league. Both the company and the league have benefited in many ways from this partnership, but we feel that it is now time for us to move on," Pilipinas Shell Chairman and President Ed Chua said.

Kanapi, who did not take phone calls in the weeks leading to yesterday’s announcement, apologized for not doing so.

"It was going to preempt the results," he said. "I didn’t want to create any unnecessary anxiety. I hope people would understand."

The coaching staff and players were informed yesterday morning of the development, which, according to Kanapi, was "a very emotional occasion for everybody."

Alvarez and Mamaril, who are both in the US, and Tubid, who is in the province, were not in the meeting.

Kanapi also confirmed reports that he had spoken to Harbour Centre and Welcoat in the hopes of selling the franchise.

Until Monday night, Harbour Centre appeared to be a strong frontrunner to take Shell’s place but talks bogged down because the two teams could not reach an agreement on pricing.

"Maybe the timing isn’t right for Harbour Centre to come in yet," Kanapi said.

Shell plans to submit a letter to the PBA on Friday regarding the creation of a pool where Turbo Chargers player will be picked out from a dispersal draft.

"Sad ako dahil maganda naman ang performance ng team lately," said coach Leo Austria. "Kung anuman ang rason kung bakit nagkaganito it’s beyond my knowledge. But I know management was trying their best to retain the team."

Before bidding the league farewell, Shell, which bought the Crispa franchise in 1985, was the second-oldest active team behind San Miguel.

Throughout its 20 years in the league, the multinational-backed squad had seen its shares of ups and downs.

After struggling in its first five years, Shell finally had a cornerstone to work with after it drafted Benjie Paras in 1989 — the year he won the historic Rookie of the Year and MVP.

But it wasn’t until a year later in the First Conference of 1990 that the Turbo Chargers won their first league title under Arlene Rodriguez.

Together with spitfire playmaker Ronnie Magsanoc, the duo led Shell to another crown in the same tournament two years later.

Age, injuries and a lack of a solid supporting cast kept Shell out of the radar for most of the mid-1990’s until the arrival of youthful coach Perry Ronquillo.

With a rejuvenated Paras and new faces surrounding him, Shell took two more titles — the All-Filipino Cup in 1999 and the Governor’s Cup in 1998. In 1999, Paras, inarguably the best player to suit up for Shell, won his second MVP trophy.

Overall, Shell has won 436 games to 577 losses. To go with four league titles, Shell has taken home six runner-up and six third place finishes.

Austria, who was hired as the 11th head coach of Shell last year, was actually the Turbo Chargers’ first-ever draft pick in 1985.