KJ McDaniels just steered NLEX to the quarterfinals of the PBA Season 46 Governors Cup and, during the course of that run, has made the Road Warriors look every inch like title contenders.
But come the playoffs, the Road Warriors will have to make do with another import.
The former NBA player will be playing his farewell game with the team on Friday against Barangay Ginebra as he's set to leave for the US by next week due to 'a personal matter,' sources told SPIN.ph on Tuesday.
SPIN.ph has also learned that NLEX management is now in the process of looking for a replacement import in time for the quarterfinals, where the Road Warriors are on track to finish in the Top 4 for a twice-to-beat advantage.
McDaniels' impending departure is just the latest roster concern facing the Road Warriors, coming on the heels of the decision of free-agent Jericho Cruz to decline a new contract offer to sign with San Miguel Beer.
Injuries hurt NLEX
The team has also lost rookie sensation Calvin Oftana and rugged guard Tony Semerad to season-ending injuries.
But the biggest blow, if ever, would be the departure of the do-it-all McDaniels, who, in his second tour of duty in the PBA (the first one was with NLEX's sister team TNT) has become a cinch for the Best Import award.
McDaniels, who had stints with the Sixers, Nets, and the Rockets in the NBA, leads the season-ending conference in scoring with a 30.8-point average through 10 games while leading NLEX to third place with a 7-3 (win-loss) card.
Sources said NLEX officials have been trying to convince McDaniels to delay his departure until the end of the conference.
However, the import already has a ticket at hand, the source added.
Apparently, the more than one month postponement of games in the season-ending meet affected the supposed time frame of McDaniels' stay in the country.
The 29-year-old import planned until an early March stint with the Road Warriors, which would have been just fine as the conference would have already been staging the finals by that time whether the team goes deep into the playoffs or not.
But the close to six-week delay in the holding of games due to the sudden surge of the COVID-19 Omicron variant after the holiday season, moved the league schedule of finishing by April, by which time McDaniels would no longer be available as he needed to be back in the US by the second week of March.
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