KAI Sotto could miss out on the third window of the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers due to his obligations with G League team Ignite.
The NBA G League has plans to stage a bubble tournament in February with 17 teams already opting in, according to a report by Jonathan Givony of Draft Express.
"The G League Ignite squad will be the 18th team participating. G League teams say they are expecting to play a minimum of 12 games not including the playoffs," the report wrote.
If it pushes through, Sotto will be unavailable for Gilas Pilipinas' series of games in Clark where the Philippines will wrap up its qualifying games in Group A.
Sotto is gearing up for his first season in the developmental league, where he will team up with some of the top high school stars in the United States in Jalen Green and Jonathan Kuminga, as well as NBA veterans Amir Johnson and Bobby Brown in Team Ignite.
Meanwhile, Gilas is preparing for its final assignments in the qualifiers for the continental tilt, where it is scheduled to take on Korea on Feb. 18, Indonesia on Feb. 20, and Korea again on Feb. 22.
Sotto earlier stated his intention of suiting up for the national team, although Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) program director Tab Baldwin noted nothing is final.
"We'd like to think that we have every belief that he would be there for February, but there are still discussons ongoing," he said.
The SBP is looking to bring in PBA players to reinforce the cadets squad which suited up for the second window in Manama, Bahrain in November.
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