TROY Rosario is now an official Bossing.
The PBA approved the contentious three-way trade that finally ended Rosario’s six-season stint with TNT on Monday.
See: Oftana to TNT, Rosario to Blackwater, Rosser to NLEX in six-player trade
The trade committee tweaked the earlier six-player proposal and instead, added two future second-round picks in lieu of unrestricted free agent and injured guard Paul Desiderio.
Troy Rosario played six years with TNT.
In the approved trade, NLEX dealt promising big man Calvin Oftana and Raoul Soyud to Blackwater for Brandon Ganuelas Rosser and the second round picks.
In return, the Bossing sent Oftana and Soyud to TNT for Rosario and rarely used reliever Gab Banal.
Rosario spent his first first six years donning the TNT jersey as the no. 2 overall pick in the 2015 draft and acquired by the franchise in a separate three-team trade that also involved NLEX and Terrafirma, the franchise that picked him behind no. 1 overall selection Mo Tautuaa.
The former National University standout was a four-time All-Star with the Tropang Giga and won his first championship with the team during last year’s Philippine Cup bubble in Bacolor, Pampanga.
He averaged 11.9 points and 6.1 rebounds the entire time he played for TNT.
Banal could also get playing minutes with the Bossing, a rarity during his two conference stint with the Tropang Giga.
In giving up the 30-year-old Rosario, the Tropang Giga though acquired a rising star in Oftana, who was the second leading scorer for the Road Warriors during the Philippine Cup with averages of 17.0 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.6 steals, and a reliable off the bench big in Soyud.
Meanwhile, NLEX got a young power forward in Ganuelas-Rosser, the top pick in the last draft, who could toughen up the middle for Road Warriors and form a solid frontrourt rotation that has Justin Chua for anchor.