STUCK with another asset that they can't tap immediately, PBA rookie team Titan Ultra are now trading the rights to last year’s No. 5 draft pick overall Dave Ildefonso.
Ildefonso failed to come to terms with NorthPort after he was allegedly 'lowballed' with an offer of P150,000 a month after being drafted - more than a year before the Batang Pier franchise was acquired by Titan.
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Instead, the former Korea league import signed a better deal with the Abra Solid North Weavers in the MPBL, where he is believed to receive a salary not lower than P450,000 a month.
Giant Risers are interested in signing Ildefonso, but his two-year contract Ildefonso signed with the Weavers made the situation complicated.
“The team wants to sign him, who wouldn’t want a Dave Ildefonso? He’s been dominating the MPBL now and he was a force to reckon with in the UAAP. Kaso we want to improve now and his contract with Abra makes it a bit of a problem for us,” said a Titan Ultra insider.
As a result, the Giant Risers are now deep in talks with the Converge FiberXers through team manager Jacob Lao, whose family is behind Ildefonso’s former team, Strong Group Athletics, that plays in Dubai and the Jones Cup.
Under the proposal already awaiting approval by the PBA Commissioner’s Office and its trade committee, Titan will send the signing rights of Ildefonso to Converge for rookie forward Kobe Monje and a Season 52 first-round pick.
Monje, 21st overall pick in the last draft, played for the Giant Risers’ MPBL sister team Valenzuela City Magic.
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Asked if the Titan Ultra management doesn’t see the proposed trade as a downgrade, the source echoed the sentiment of the team’s higher ups.
“We’ll get to have an underrated power forward who can blossom with us plus a pick that might end up to be a game changer. The pick is for 2027 as Converge’s 2026 first-rounder has already been traded,” he said.
But isn't Ildefonso worth the gamble?
“Mahirap kasi nakakahiya rin sa Abra especially that it is owned by another aggressive basketball patron in Rep. JB Bernos, na kalaban ng Valenzuela sa MPBL. We feel mas makakapag-usap sila nila boss Jacob and Frank (Lao) and Vice Gov Delta (Pineda) better than us,” he said.
“We want to have Dave kaso may Joshua Munzon at Calvin Abueva pa kami. So, we’d rather address the other weak spot of the team,” said the Giant Risers source.
With Jio Jalalon already released and eventually signing with TNT and Greg Slaughter and Ildefonso’s playing rights now on the trading block, we asked the Titan source if these aren't moves identified with a ‘farm team.'
The team insider responded: “No, no. Definitely not.”
“Jio left before we took command of the team. He was already practicing with TNT long before the franchise sale was approved. The fact that he was going to be a UFA [unrestricted free agent] further complicated things for us.
"As for Greg, well he’s asking for too much. As for Dave, it’s more of an impending contract dispute for us,” he added.
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