FORMER top rookie pick Roosevelt Adams has signified his intention to test the PBA market after declining the contract extension offered to him by Terrafirma.
Adams had an option to extend for a third year — his two-year contract expired on Dec. 31 — but the 2019 No. 1 draft pick turned down a fresh deal offered by management.
“Hindi kami magkasundo, e. Wala naman tayong magagawa kung ayaw niya naman. Hindi mo rin naman puwedeng pilitin,” said Terrafirma governor and board vice-chairman Bobby Rosales, who added the new contract offer was made to Adams prior to the expiration of his previous deal.
Now Adams is available to be picked by any team in the free agent list, but the Dyip still has the rights on him.
“We have the right to match any offer ng team na kukuha sa kanya,” said Rosales. “So far, wala pa naman kaming natatanggap na offer (from the PBA office) or wala pa kaming nababalitaan.”
Roosevelt Adams is testing free agency waters.
The 6-foot-5 Adams hasn’t completed a seven-year playing cycle in the league and his situation is different to Terrafirma teammate Matt Ganuelas Rosser, who exercised his UFA rights after his contract expired at the end of 2021.
Ganuelas-Rosser was selected No. 4 overall in the 2014 draft under whose batch the first ever UFA rule in the PBA applies.
Like Adams, Ganuelas-Rosser was also offered a new two-year deal.
It has been a roller-coaster ride for Adams in his first two seasons with the Dyip, including the initial two conferences where he suited up in which the league had to play under a bubble setup.
Injuries also slowed him down early in his sophomore season during the Philippine Cup bubble in Bacolor, Pampanga.
But he did show promise in his first season in the league that he eventually made it to the all-rookie team.
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