GUEST team Macau Black Bears will parade two imports already familiar with both PBA and Filipino basketball fans.
The Black Bears are bringing along Sam Deguara and Tony Mitchell to reinforce their campaign in the Commissioner’s Cup set to kick off on March 11.
Sources bared to Spin.ph that Macau management has already notified the PBA about having the two as part of its roster in the second conference.
READ Why Cone isn't afraid of Brownlee facing Bol Bol, taller imports
Deguara has been a fixture in tournaments around Asia and just recently, suited up for the Zamboanga Valientes in the 35th Dubai International Basketball Championship.
At 7-foot-6, the 288-pound player from Malta is set to become the tallest import to play in Asia’s pioneering pro league.
Incoming TNT import and former NBA player Bol Bol is listed at 7-foot-3, the same height as Puerto Rican and former KIA reinforcement PJ Ramos, who is considered the tallest import so far to have suited up in the league.
Mitchell, 33, was a former first-round pick of the Detroit Pistons in the 2013 NBA draft, and previously serve as import for the Purefoods franchise in the 2017 Commissioner’s Cup and NLEX in the 2019 edition of the same mid-season conference.
Both Mitchell and Deguara played for the Black Bears in the EASL Home and Away Season 3, where the team ended up winless in six games in Group B where Meralco also belonged.
But commissioner Willie Marcial stressed Macau can only utilize one import at a time.
If the original import choice goes down with an injury, the team will have to relegate him to the injury/reserved list for him to become eligible for reactivation.
But once the team reactivates the original choice, it can no longer bring back the second import should another injury occurs.
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