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    COLUMN: Japan B.League teams raise offer. Will Japeth finally bite?

    B.League teams now offering 'upwards of $40,000 a month' to Aguilar
    Dec 14, 2021
    japeth aguilar knee injury
    spin zone

    CHICAGO - If Japeth Aguilar will be a restricted free agent by June 2022, he will need a good accountant and a financial planner who can render him sage advice on how to handle the sudden surge of incredible wealth coming his way.

    A Japan B. League source revealed to me over the phone today that four teams are prepared to make the Ginebra star a formal offer.

    And the already rich pot has been sweetened to lure what many scouts and agents believe is one of the top Asian imports around the region.

    In case you're wondering why wait until June, well, here's the skinny.

    The Japan B League season is already ongoing. Once it ends in May, teams huddle and determine their budgets for salaries' spending. The offers follow soon after in June and no further than the end of July.

    The "firm" figure of $35,000 a month, which I previously reported, is no longer on the table. Aguilar's potential pay is now projected to be upwards of $40,000 per month.

    All that money, begging for Peter Aguilar's son to take it.

    Would he?

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    No one really knows. Japeth has clammed up like a crustacean. Quiet as a mob witness, distant as a loner.

    All I know for sure is that he can take the deal as soon as it comes, just in case he's interested.

    A SOURCE FAMILIAR WITH JAPETH'S TENURE AT GINEBRA TOLD ME THAT EVERYTHING IS "STATUS QUO" CONTRACT-WISE AND THAT THE 6-FOOT-9, 235-POUND TOWER OF POWER HAS NOT YET SIGNED AN EXTENSION.

    And if things don't change by December 31, when said contract expires, I was notified that Ginebra will likely enforce a PBA memo" that allows the Gin Kings to let the deal "roll over" and continue to avail of Agular's services.

    Ginebra can buy time.

    It cannot stop fate.

    I mean, how can Aguilar, or any other PBA hooper with even half a brain and a dollop of common sense, walk away from a deal that will pay him P2 million a month even though he is already 34 years old?

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    To those who lean on loyalty and kinship as somehow valid reasons for Aguilar to stay in the PBA, stop reading this column right now and take your misplaced sentimental nonsense elsewhere.

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      With this insane amount of cash, Japeth's family will be set for life. How can he, for the love of God, turn this down?

      Maybe San Miguel makes a counter-offer, dangling a very rich, incentive-laden carrot. But how can it match P2 million when the PBA rules clearly say the max contract can only be P450,000 a month?

      The SMC Group has been known - allegedly - to reward chosen favorites with side businesses that will keep them financially stable in the basketball afterlife.

      Great.

      Sadly, those deals, as shown by Marc Pingris' and PJ Simons' failed attempt to play in the MPBL are wrapped with very tight, possessive strings.

      Look, with the kind of money Japeth will command in Japan, he won't need SMC's support.

      CONTINUE READING BELOW ↓
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      DAMN, HE CAN FINANCE AND RUN WHATEVER ENTERPRISE, ALL LEGAL OF COURSE, HE SO CHOOSES WITHOUT HAVING TO LOOK OVER HIS SHOULDERS.

      I actually have Japeth's hard-to-get personal cell phone number. I've tried to reach out once via text message and didn't get a response, which is fine. Micheal Jordan hasn't called me back yet, either.

      If you're reading this, Japeth, I no longer want to interview. But I do want to tell you a couple of things.

      Leave the PBA, man.

      Just do It.

      Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph

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