CHICAGO - If you held your breath waiting for the Troy Rosario free agency story to write its ending, you'd have been dead by now.
That's why it was wiser and saner to let the process take its course. As I've said before, due diligence requires time.
So here we are, finally, at the last stage of a thrilling, plot-twisting saga that is destined to tilt the balance of power in the PBA.
READ Troy Rosario signing with Ginebra, say sources
Forty-six days since he officially became an unrestricted free agent, Rosario is bound for Ginebra, my podcast partner and SPIN.ph colleague Snow Badua reported in an exclusive on Friday.
Having followed this long-running courtship since Day One, I picked up the crumbs Snow left behind.
"Wala pa po. Set meeting pa lang," a coy Troy told me via text message on Friday afternoon.
SMC IN CONTROL.
That meeting, multiple sources said, is supposed to take place at the SMC office in Ortigas this coming Monday or Tuesday.
After having already politely closed the door on other suitors, Rosario is now almost a lock for SMC. And the only possible deal spoiler is if SMC chooses to throw Troy to San Miguel Beer or, God forbid, Magnolia.
Compared to what the 6-foot-7 big can receive in the open market, a low of P900,000 and a high of P1.2 million monthly, SMC's offer of a reported P800,000 a month is obviously lighter than what TNT, Blackwater and Converge put on the table.
But Troy will be happy to bank less money to play for Ginebra, a team cherished by generations of Rosarios. However, he will not take a pay cut to suit up for the Beermen or the Hotshots.
So what happens if the SMC talks don't go well?
"We will be happy to have him," Converge team manager Jacob Lao told me in a telephone interview.
And so we wait.
COACHING CHANGE AT MAGNOLIA?
Behind Tim Cone, Chito Victolero is the second longest-tenured coach in the PBA, a stability that lends some of its strength on his close relationships with SMC CEO Ramon Ang and SMC sports director Alfranchis Chua.
But that's potentially about to change,
Per Snow Badua, the bosses are allegedly giving Victolero two more conferences to shape up or ship out.
I hope it's not true because I hate to see people lose their livelihoods. But at the end of the day, coaching is a results-dependent job.
I sent a text message to Victorleo seeking comment but he didn't respond.
Beloved by his players, Chito is a Coach of the Year and a champion, both feats he acquired in 2018.
But one title in eight years running doesn't exactly inspire excellence considering the talent his roster has and the resources at his disposal. I'm told management soured on Victolero's four-import usage in the Governors' Cup that cost the franchise a tidy sum.
Even though he elected to turn our relations frigid, I'm still rooting hard for coach Chito.
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