CONVERGE is going all out in its bid to end the PBA's Season 49 with a bang.
The FiberXers acquired Rey Suerte from Blackwater in a one-on-one trade for BJ Andrade, stocking their roster with another lights-out shooter to pair with rookie gunner Jordan Heading.
Both Blackwater coach Jeff Cariaso and Converge counterpart Franco Atienza confirmed the deal to SPIN.ph.
'Yes, it's true," said Cariaso in a short text message.
READ Rey Suerte signs fresh two-year contract with Blackwater
"Yes on that," Atienza added.
Trade papers had been submitted to the PBA Comissioner’s Office on Monday.
While Andrade, taken in the first round (No. 10) by Converge in the Season 48 draft, had been decent for the FiberXers in the first two conferences this season after sitting out a year due to a knee injury, Suerte is expected to make an outright impact for his new team.
The 30-year-old University of the East product was the No. 2 pick in the 2019 special Gilas draft by the Bossing.
He also played for Gilas Pilipinas under former coach Tab Baldwin alongside Heading and No. 1 overall pick Justine Baltazar.
Suerte's outside shooting also gave Converge an additional firepower aside from Heading, Bryan Santos, and Mike Nieto, and expected to space out the floor and give the FiberXers' frontcourt of Baltazar, Justine Arana, and Pao Javillonar the room to operate.
The latest move showed how focused the Converge franchise is as far as making it deep into the playoffs of the season-ending all-Filipino conference is concerned.
Twice this season, the FiberXers fell short of making it to the semis for the first time in franchise history, the last a Game 3 loss to Rain or Shine in a sudden-death Game 3 during their quarterfinals series in the mid-season Commissioner's Cup.
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