TWO new members of Team Pilipinas recently signed new contracts with their respective mother ballclubs in the PBA.
Scottie Thompson and Alex Cabagnot inked separate three-year deals with Barangay Ginebra and San Miguel Beer, respectively, even before they were named to the national training pool for the Fiba World Cup qualifiers.
Thompson’s rookie contract with the Kings is set to expire by the end of the season, but management opted to re-sign him early for another three-year pact for playing a major role in the team’s last three championship runs, including last conference’s Commissioner’s Cup.
Cabagnot, 35, on the other hand, was given a two-year extension even before his contract with the Beermen expires next season.
In effect, both Thompson and Cabagnot are bound by their new contracts until 2021, although terms were not made available.
Thompson, picked fifth overall by Ginebra in the 2015 draft, has won a championship in each of his three seasons so far with the team and was the PBA Press Corps Finals MVP when the Kings stunned the Beermen in six games to win the mid-season tournament.
He was later described by Ginebra coach Tim Cone as ‘a real special kid.’
“Scottie brings us that intangible of just never quit or never give up, and he really exemplifies that never-say-die attitude,” Cone said of the 25-year-old rebounding guard out of Perpetual Help. “His energy is always there. You don’t get see him in practice but he’s like that in practice too, the stuff he does in games, he does in practice all the time.
“I could talk about him for hours,” added the champion mentor. “I think he’s just scratching the surface on how good eventually he’s going to be.”
Cabagnot meanwhile, served as part of San Miguel’s Fab Five that won six titles in the 11 conferences since the 2014-15 season. He was named PBAPC Finals MVP in the 2017 Commissioner’s Cup.
The way both Cabagnot and Thompson had been playing for their teams the past seasons definitely earned them the trust of national coach Yeng Guiao to include them in the 16-man national pool to be utilized in the fourth window of the World Cup qualifiers.