A year after being picked in the special Gilas draft, Isaac Go, Matt and Mike Nieto, Rey Suerte, and Allyn Bulanadi may finally see action in the PBA.
Sources told SPIN.ph there is a clamor from some PBA teams to let the five Gilas draftees play in the pro league next season while waiting for their next call-up with the national team in the Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers.
Go was selected No. 1 overall by Columbian (now Terrafirma) in the special Gilas round in last year's draft and was immediately loaned to the national team, just like Blackwater's Suerte, NLEX guard Matt Nieto, Alaska's Bulanadi, and Mike Nieto of Rain or Shine.
The Gilas draftees have been called up in the first two windows of the Fiba Asia Cup qualifying, although Bulanadi failed to make the lineup in the first round of qualifiers and was sidelined by an injury in the next.
All five are still under contract with the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP), but some teams, sources said, want their draftees back for the time being while Gilas has no tournaments to play overseas.
That is certainly doable, since Gilas will be on a break between the final window of the Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers in Doha from February 18 to 22 and August, when preparations begin for the Fiba Asia Cup set in Indonesia from August 16 to 28.
Sought for comment, Commissioner Willie Marcial said the participation of the five Gilas draftees in the next PBA season will depend on a meeting which he will have with SBP president Al Panlilio 'in the next two, three days.'
"Pag-uusapan 'yan," said Marcial.
The meeting with Panlilio, who is also team governor of Meralco in the league, will also settle the issue on which players and how many draftees Gilas will get in the PBA Rookie Draft on March 14, Marcial added.
"Lahat proposals pa lang naman, up for approval ng board. Pag-uusapan kung sino ang kukunin [for the special Gilas draft], kung ilan, at kung magbababa ba tayo [ng mga Gilas cadets] habang wala pang [qualifiers]," he said.
Marcial said some teams feel a stint in the PBA can help Isaac Go and Co. stay sharp in the five-month gap between the final qualifiers and the Fiba Asia Cup proper and at the same time become familiar with their mother teams.
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