RAIN or Shine locked in part of its future on Tuesday when it signed guard Adrian Nocum to a new contract.
The franchise gave the exciting guard a three-year max deal almost two years after selecting him with the last pick of the second round of the PBA Season 48 draft.
COLUMN: Yeng says Nocum will be 'scary as he gets even better'
Nocum signed the contract in the presence of team governor Atty. Mamerto Mondragon, team manager Jireh Ibanes, and his representative Danny Espiritu.
The team declined to reveal figures, but sources said the new Nocum deal is 'very close' to the league's maximum of P420,000 a month.
"Close ... but not max," said a team insider.
In just two years with the team co-owned by Raymund Yu and Terry Que, the 25-year-old, Tondo-born guard has risen to become one of coach Yeng Guiao’s deadly weapons whose razzle-dazzle plays and high-wire acts endeared him to PBA fans.
Since coming on board, Nocum has helped Rain or Shine made it to the semifinals for four straight conferences including the ongoing Philippine Cup against TNT.
Nocum currently leads the team in scoring with averages of 16.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.6 steals as he anchors the Elasto Painters’ run-and-gun backcourt together with Andre Caracut and Jhonard Clarito.
“Walang hanggang pasasalamat mahal na poong Hesus Nazareno,” Nocum, who is also a devotee of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo, said in a social media post
Rain or Shine still trails TNT in their best-of-seven series, 2-1, but is looking to level things up in Wednesday’s Game 4 at the Mall of Asia Arena.
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