JAVI Gomez de Liaño is thrilled to see his younger brother Juan in a ‘win now’ situation with Converge after being drafted No. 2 overall in the PBA Season 50 draft.
The 27-year-old Gomez de Liaño admitted he wanted to be teammates with his brother, just like in their UP days in high school and college, after juan decided to put himself in the PBA draft following his stints Japan, Lithuania, and Korea.
But at the same time, Javi knew that the 25-year-old Juan won’t be available for Magnolia at No. 6 overall during the draft proceedings last Sunday with the reputation he has built as a versatile guard.
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“As much as we wanted to be teammates, I’m happy for him,” said Javi. “He’s in a good position with Gov. Delta [Pineda] and Boss Jacob (Lao). We all thought he was going number one, but I guess better situation ‘yung number two for him.”
Juan joins the Converge core of Justine Baltazar, Justin Arana, Alec Stockton, and Schonny Winston longing to finally go deep after six quarterfinal appearances over their three-year stint in the PBA.
“Converge is in a win-now mode and they’ve got complete tools now especially with Juan on board the team. Converge is gonna be real scary this year.”
Like his younger brother, Javi is also returning to the Philippines after signing with Magnolia recently. He played for the Anyang Jung Kwan Red Boosters during the Korean pro league's 2024-25 season.
The Hotshots acquired the signing rights of the elder Gomez de Liaño in a trade with Terrafirma in exchange for Jerrick Ahanmisi and Magnolia’s second round pick of the Season 50 draft which eventually became Shawn Umali.
Gomez de Liaño goes to Magnolia at a time of major changes after LA Tenorio replaced Chito Victolero as head coach. Javi is also expected to fill the gap left by William Navarro, who has moved to Korea.
Javi looks forward to the Magnolia match-up against Converge, and sees the Hotshots as having the pieces to also go deeper in the season.
“We can’t wait to play each other,” said Gomez de Liaño.
"We are scary too," he added.
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