FOR the third straight year, Terrafirma will get pole position in the upcoming PBA Rookie Draft.
The Dyip will once again have the first crack at the next neophytes' pool after finishing dead last in the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup in Clark.
Terrafirma finished the season with a 1-10 win-loss record as it relied heavily on the might of last year's Scoring Champion and Rookie of the Year CJ Perez.
Following suit will be NorthPort, which will be picking second.
The Dyip and the Batang Pier finished the season with identical records, but Terrafirma got the nod as the worst team due to the win-over-the-other tiebreak as NorthPort won their duel, 107-96, last October 24.
This is the first time that a franchise will be picking No. 1 in three consecutive years, with the Dyip picking Perez first in 2018 and tapping Isaac Go in the special Gilas round and Roosevelt Adams in the regular round in 2019.
It actually would have been four straight years had the then-Kia not traded it's No. 1 pick in the 2017 PBA Rookie Draft to San Miguel, which turned out to be Christian Standhardinger.
There were only two instances in the past when a franchise got the top pick in back-to-back years, with Welcoat/Rain or Shine selecting Joe Devance in 2007 and Gabe Norwood in 2008, and Burger King/Air21 choosing Japeth Aguilar in 2009 and Nonoy Baclao in 2010.
After Terrafirma and NorthPort make their selections, NLEX will follow suit with the third and fourth picks.
The No. 3 pick actually came from Blackwater, which was part of the three-team deal centered around Poy Erram, who went to TNT back in February.
Also part of that package for the Road Warriors were Anthony Semerad, Rabeh Al-Hussaini, and a 2021 second round pick, while the Elite received Ed Daquioag, Marion Magat, Yousef Taha, and a pair of TNT's future first rounders in exchange.
NLEX's No. 4 pick, meanwhile, is its own selection.
Only the top four teams' draft order have been confirmed following the conclusion of the elimination phase of this season's lone conference.
The placings for the next eight picks will be determined once the season is finished, although it is to be noted that TNT's first-round selection in this draft proceedings will be conveyed to NorthPort as a part of the Terrence Romeo-Mo Tautuaa swap back in 2018.
Commissioner Willie Marcial earlier said that the next PBA Rookie Draft will be held in January, although the league has yet to open its doors for applications.
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