BARANGAY Ginebra has formed an athletic duo after Jamie Malonzo was acquired in a trade with NorthPort.
Malonzo is slated to team up with Jeremiah Gray following the trade, but don’t expect to see the partnership though in the foreseeable future.
Ginebra coach Tim Cone said while the 26-year-old Gray has been practicing, he is still far from in full shape after the former Alab Pilipinas cager suffered an ACL injury during his stint with TNT in the PBA 3x3.
“He is still malayo,” said Cone. “Malayo pa.”
Ginebra is set to make its conference debut on Sunday against Converge, but only Malonzo will be eligible to suit up.
Gray was selected by Terrafirma second in the recent draft despite his injury. Eventually, Gray landed at Ginebra in a trade in exchange of fellow rookie Javi Gomez de Liano and a future pick.
Malonzo was also snagged by Ginebra in a trade, giving up Arvin Tolentino, Prince Caperal, and future draft picks in the process.
Cone said Gray will most likely return by October if everything falls into place.
“Late October pa, if everything is perfect, maybe late October. He is still a long ways away,” said Cone.
But Cone said Gray has been participating in practice to learn the offensive and defensive plays of the team.
“He is learning by watching. But we can’t put him really on anything that is strenuous that is going to test his knee at this point. He is still medyo malayo from where we wanted him to be,” said Cone.
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