THE prospect of getting two first-round picks in a PBA draft considered the deepest in terms of talent led Terrafirma to let go of its own franchise player.
Terrafirma team board of governor Bobby Rosales said the Dyip had to give up star player CJ Perez in order to land one more talent in the March 14 rookie draft in addition to the No. 1 pick overall which they currently owned.
Perez was dealt to San Miguel Beer on Friday in exchange for the Beermen’s No. 8 pick in the first round of the March 14 rookie draft, along with bench players Matt Ganuelas- Rosser, Russel Escoto, and Gelo Alolino.
The papers had already been sent to the PBA office for approval, although a check with the league showed these have yet to be received by Commissioner Willie Marcial or anyone from his staff.
Rosales admitted it was hard parting with Perez, but insisted that this trade gives the Dyip a better chance at forming a deeper, more formidable unit to be built around two first-round picks in the coming draft.
“He’s really a good player. Ang hirap bitawan ni CJ,” said Rosales, who is also PBA board vice chairman. “Pero we’ve all been saying na hindi kumpleto yung piyesa ng team."
"So we thought also that having two picks in the first round at No. 1 and No. 8 would give us a better chance of getting the better talent in this coming draft. And hopefully would be able to hit the pieces also.”
According to sources, Terrafirma is looking at making Fil-Am Joshua Munzon the top pick overall in the coming draft then take a quality big man at No. 8 in a pool that also has the likes of Jamie Malonzo, Santi Santillan, Calvin Oftana, William Navarro and Alvin Pasaol.
If it didn't trade Perez, Rosales explained that Terrafirma has no pick in the second round and would not be selecting again until the 25th pick overall in the third round.
“Unfortunately, matagal pa bago kami ulit maka-pick. Kapag naka-pick kami sa No. 1, ang tagal pa, maghihintay pa kami sa third round,” said Rosales.
But that logic hardly stands when viewed from the standpoint of giving away Perez, a do-it-all guard out of San Sebastian and Lyceum who was the league scoring champion in his two seasons since being drafted No. 1 overall in 2018.
He is currently with Gilas Pilipinas in the Calamba bubble inside the Inspire Sports Academy, preparing for the final window of the Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers that was moved to Doha, Qatar just last Thursday.
He won Rookie of the Year honor in 2019, landed a spot in the Mythical First Team, and emerged as the league’s scoring champion.
Last year during the Philippine Cup bubble, he again emerged as the season’s top scorer, averaging 24.4 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 4.3 assists.
Unfortunately, the numbers failed to translate into wins for the Dyip, who finished 1-10 during their campaign in the last all-Filipino conference.
In his rookie season, the franchise finished with a combined 11-22 (win-loss) record and failed to make the playoffs.
Still, Rosales said sacrificing Perez will give Terrafirma the chance to form a well-rounded, competitive team for next season.
“Very obvious naman kung ano yung mga kulang namin. We have the shooters, we have the backcourt. Alam naman natin na kung saan kami binubugbog e,” said Rosales, without directly saying a frontcourt player is what Terrafirma has been lacking.
“So that really is the basis of the decision. We wanted two picks in the first round, e.”
This is the second major piece that SMB will be getting from Terrafirma, which, in 2017, gave up the No. 1 overall pick in the rookie draft to the Beermen for bench players Ronald Tubid, Jay-R Reyes, Rashawn McCarthy and a first-round pick in 2019.
That pick turned out to be Fil-German Christian Standhardinger.
Years after that trade that was approved by then-commissioner Chito Narvasa with so little revisions, the PBA board, facing anger from fans, decided to outlaw the trading of the No. 1 draft pick.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
