It's official. Schonny Winston and Kevin Racal's stay at Converge is over.
The PBA Commissioner's Office on Tuesday formally approved the three-team, five-player trade that sent Winston and Racal to NLEX in exchange for the duo of Javee Mocon and Jonnel Policarpio.
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Also approved was the FiberXers move to ship Mocon to Meralco for sophomore guard Kurt Reyson and a future second-round pick.
With the PBA's blessing, Converge now adds Policarpio and Reyson to a deep, talented lineup as well as a future pick; NLEX gets prolific scorer Winston and veteran Racal; while Meralco gets a solid player in Mocon.
The trade ended Winston's more than two year stay with the FiberXers, who selected him no. 9 overall during the Season 48 draft.
Even more, Racal leaves Converge after a four-year run as the only remaining player of the Alaska franchise which the FiberXers bought.
The Letran alumnus was a first round pick of Alaska in the 2015 draft, and will now be playing in his third PBA team at 34 years old.
For Policarpio and Reyson, joining Converge meant being reunited with Pampanga patron and coach Delta Pineda.
Reyson, 24, and a second round pick of Meralco in the Season 49 draft, even played under Pineda for the Pampanga Giant Lanterns and won back-to-back MPBL championships.
The transfer to Meralco hopefully, will recalibrate his playing career, which obviously lost some luster when he left Rain or Shine after selecting him no, 6 in the 2018 draft.
He was traded by the Elasto Painters to Phoenix for Nic Demusis and two future draft picks in 2022, and then found himself on the go again when he was dealt to NLEX for Ato Ular and a 2025 second round draft pick.
Meanwhile, NLEX management expressed its gratitude for the time Mocon and Policarpio spent with the franchise.
“We are truly grateful to Javee and Jonnel for their professionalism and commitment during their time with NLEX. Javee brought leadership to our locker room, while Jonnel showed great potential and energy from day one," said NLEX Road Warriors team governor Ronald T. Dulatre.
"We thank them for their contributions to the Road Warriors and wish them nothing but success in the next chapter of their careers.”
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