MATTHEW Wright is set to sit down with Phoenix management to discuss the future for him and the franchise.
The contract of the Fil-Canadian gunner is expiring at season’s end and he needs to hear what the Fuel Masters have to offer and what their plans are.
The meeting will be with team manager Paolo Bugia, according to Wright.
“I’m going to sit down and listen to what Phoenix has to say. And they’ll listen to what I have to say. We’ll see what happens,” said Wright after the team’s season came to a conclusion on Friday night following a 127-88 blowout loss against top seed Magnolia in the PBA Governors’ Cup quarterfinals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Wright refers to the meeting as a step in the right direction.
“It would be exciting to see what Phoenix has to offer me. So I’m willing to listen, so I guess it’s exciting,” he said.
Wright decision
But the 31-year-old guard-forward admitted he’s open to all options right now, including possibly playing for another team in another country.
“Whether it’s overseas, whether it’s here in the Philippines,” he said.
Wright has been with Phoenix for six seasons now after being picked as the No. 4 selection in the special Gilas draft in 2016, and he admitted leaving the country would be a very difficult decision for him to make.
“My whole life is here. I’ve been here for over six years, so it’s not easy to just leave. No one wants to really do that,” he said.
“But if the opportunity arises and the price is right, you know you have to reconsider sometimes,” Wright said. “But I love the PBA, I love Gilas, and those two things are very hard to separate from.”
Wright finished with eight points, two rebounds, and eight assists in his return to the playoffs, which unfortunately, was spoiled by him fouling out late in the third quarter and the Fuel Masters already trailing by as big as 25 points.
The Phoenix star said it was the first time ever he fouled out in his playing career.
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