A STRAIGHT trade between Petron and Barako Bull involving Ronald Tubid, Alex Mallari, and Jojo Duncil is in the works, and could set in motion a bigger deal that could involve three more teams and as much as seven other players, sources said.
Just days after pulling the plug on a deal involving Joseph Yeo reportedly on the orders of big boss Ramon Ang, Petron came back with a counter-proposal that will have the Boosters shipping rookie Mallari and role player Jojo Duncil to Barako Bull to finally get its hands on Tubid.
The deal could be consummated as early as Tuesday, sources from both teams said.
The wheeling and dealing, however, is not expected to end there, with three other teams - SMC-owned teams Barangay Ginebra and San Mig Coffee as well as Alaska Milk - set to jump into the fray.
In a follow-up deal that could take place on Wednesday, Barako will then release Mallari, Leo Najorda, and rookie guard Lester Alvarez to San Mig for Jonas Villanueva, JC Intal, and rookie big man Aldrech Ramos who, in turn, will be sent to Alaska.
Alaska, for its part, will send sophomore Mac Baracael to Ginebra, who in turn will ship Allein Maliksi to Barako.
The final outcome of the wild merry-go-round will have Petron getting Tubid, Barako Bull acquiring Villanueva, Maliksi, Duncil, and Intal, Alaska beefing up its frontline with Ramos, Ginebra getting wingman Baracael, and San Mig coach Tim Cone finally getting his wish to have Mallari, as well as Najorda and Alvarez.
Calls made to the Commissioner's Office showed no trade proposal has yet to be submitted by the teams, but sources said a lot of the pieces in the mega-deal are already in place.
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