PHOENIX management's standing offer to star player Matthew Wright remains.
It's now up to the Fil-Canadian gunner whether to pick it up.
"We have an offer and it's up to him," said team manager Paolo Bugia said on Saturday when the Fuel Masters announced Wright is playing his final game for the team in the PBA Philippine Cup as he goes to the US for his wedding next week.
"In terms of the offer, I think that's the final offer."
Wright's contract with the only PBA franchise he played for is set to expire by August.
The two sides have been negotiating for a new deal since the end of the Governors’ Cup last April, and obviously the talks reached a stalemate as the clock is slowly ticking away for both parties to reach a compromise.
Wright has been vocal all along that he's considering a lot of options, a decision which Phoenix management respects.
Even Wright's decision to leave for the US during the team's all-Filipino campaign had the blessing of management that the Fuel Masters are ready to play their remaining game in the eliminations — or beyond it — without their best player.
"We knew naman that he will be leaving for the wedding so the team is preparing to possibly play in the playoffs even without him," said Bugia.
But the Phoenix team manager said the Fuel Masters know the scenario that awaits them.
Following its 89-66 blowout win over Converge at the Mall of Asia Arena that snapped its five-game skid for a 3-7 record, Phoenix still needs to get past Barangay Ginebra in its final assignment in the hope of forging a tie for the eighth and final playoffs berth.
Bugia said the team is ready for the inevitable.
"If we make it (playoffs), he (Wright) might not be there. So we're ready for that. My mindset naman yung mga players na we may not make it," Bugia said.
"After that, we don't want to look past. If the off season comes, we'll see what happens.
But in the case a miracle happens and the Fuel Masters made it all the way to the finals, Bugia said that's a different discussion.
"If we make the finals, iba yun. Stop the honeymoon first and comeback," said Bugia, joking about the longshot scenario.
"And OK naman siya (Wright)."
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