NLEX officially acquired big man Justin Chua in a trade with Phoenix on Thursday after giving up Kris Porter and a pair of future draft picks.
The trade, first reported by SPIN.ph, was approved by the four-man trade committee of the PBA Commissioner's Office after the Road Warriors threw in a first-round draft pick in 2022 and a second-round pick in 2021.
While it gave up a lot, the benefits are expected to be great for an NLEX side that is in the middle of its best campaign yet since head coach Yeng Guiao came on board, thanks to Best Import shoo-in KJ McDaniels.
Chua is a 6-7 big man with a consistent touch from three-point range - exactly the type of player that has thrived in Guiao's shoot-when-open system.
NLEX gets bigger, deeper
The former Ateneo center also gives considerable boost in depth and size to an NLEX side that lost Kiefer Ravena to the Japan B.League and, only recently, top rookie Calvin Oftana and Anthony Semerad to injuries.
The newly married 32-year old has also improved considerably in his eight seasons in the league, and was in fact a popular candidate for the Most Improved Player award that was handed instead to Ginebra's Prince Caperal.
On the other hand, Porter was a second-round pick of the Road Warriors in 2018 who now joins a Phoenix frontline led by Jason Perkins.
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