CHICAGO— Since his trade to TNT in June of 2025, Jordan Heading has appeared in three consecutive PBA Finals appearances with the Tropang 5G.
It’s too early in his career for him to enter any GOAT conversations but there is one other bestial term in sports that best describes the Fil-Aussie.
A lame duck. A player with an expiring contract.
The 6-foot-2, 189-pound point guard enters the resumption of the Season 50 PBA Governors’ Cup with a current deal that expires at the end of this month.
Both sides are talking and there seems to be no indication that the Japan B.League and NBL veteran will be holding out.
HEADING IS INDISPENSABLE.
On paper, TNT has a deep point guard rotation, but Rey Nambatac is so inconsistent to a point where he was almost and could still be traded.
Jayson Castro will be back in action this conference but at age 40 and a well-documented history of injuries, his appearances at games have lately been a blur.
TNT needs Heading, a ripe 30-year old elite playmaker and big-game shotmaker who was averaging 16.6 points, 2.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists prior to the 53- day PBA break.
Signing him, though, won’t be cheap.
Sister franchise NLEX inked Robert Bolick to a contract extension worth a reported P1 million a month after perks and bonuses last August.
I don’t see how Heading gets paid less given that he arguably has the better credentials and playoffs performance reputation than Bolick.
While Heading is 0-for-3 in tittle shots, Bolick is just as ring-less and hasn’t even sniffed the Finals.
FAIR MARKET VALUE.
“He is the best point guard out there,” a US-based agent, who had dealt with Jordan in the past but requested anonymity, told me via text message.
Once restrained by injuries, Heading is healthy now and had missed just two games this conference with a bum shoulder.
So why is he still unsigned at a time when Rain or Shine just took care of valuable assets Luis Villegas and Caelan Tiongson?
Apparently, approving the enormity of Heading’s potential new deal needs the nod of TNT’s top brass.
TNT had a volatile contract renegotiation talks that eventually led to a split with the man Heading was traded for — Mikey Williams.
It’s unlikely for history to repeat itself, but who knows?
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