THERE will be no second coming for Troy Rosario at TNT Tropang Giga.
In an exclusive interview with SPIN.ph, Rosario bared he has formally extended his gratitude to the management of TNT including team governor and PBA chairman Ricky Vargas and coach Chot Reyes for efforts to rehire him from the free agency market.
However, the sweet-shooting 6-7 big man bared that he wants to explore opportunities with other teams, preferring to bring his talent to a new organization.
COLUMN: Free-agent Troy Rosario admits he has picked a new team
“Nakapagpaalam na 'ko sa TNT management and sobrang thankful ako sa interest na binigay nila sa akin. Mahal ko ang TNT pero at this point, gusto ko namang subukan ang ibang team,” said Rosario.
The 32-year old former Gilas Pilipinas stalwart hopes TNT management would understand his decision as he only wants to get the best out of the last remaining years of his career in the PBA.
“Gusto ko lang ng new challenge. 'Yun siguro 'yung masasabi ko. I had success with TNT then sa Blackwater I was able to further prove my capabilities," said the player, who fans believe can tilt the balance of the league with his decision,
"Pero sabi ko naman, I am not yet totally closing my door. Siguro not this time pa muna,” he added.
At this time, Rosario bared that currently he has standing offers from Blackwater, the last team he played for, and Converge as well as teams from Korea and Japan.
Asked when he will finally make a decision, Rosario bared that he hopes to make an announcement within this week.
“Ngayong week, I will decide. Hindi naman ako nagmamadali at lalong hindi ako nagpapa-importante. Syempre, there are some decisions na kailangan mo timbangin maigi at kailangan mo i-assess ng tama,” said the Ilocano-speaking stretch 4 in this week's Playback Live program.
With Rosario declining TNT's offer, sources bared that San Miguel Corp. can now start negotiating with the second overall pick of the 2015 PBA draft by Terrafirma before he was shipped in a trade to TNT days later.
He spent his first seven PBA seasons in the flagship franchise of the MVP group.
Information reaching SPIN.ph bared that San Miguel big wigs had a ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ with their counterparts at MVP group not to touch Rosario until their negotiations are over.
At this point, SMC’s Barangay Ginebra, which recently lost the Governors' Cup title to TNT, is one of the teams in dire need of a steady big man and scorer with Christian Standhardinger gone in a trade and Isaac Go out injured,
Sister-team Magnolia also needs additional ceiling while San Miguel has also been on the lookout for a big man who can ease the load on star center June Mar Fajardo.
Meanwhile, another source bared that with the TNT losing the Rosario bid, its sister teams NLEX and Meralco might shoot their shots, too.
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