CHICAGO - The three-team trade happened swiftly. It was costly and leaked with haphazard.
But TNT was resolute in its purpose. The Tropang GIGA want the fourth pick in this Sunday's PBA draft and they are intent on taking Fil-Am Mikey Williams.
The move, which saw TNT surrender streak-shooter Simon Enciso, David Semerad and two future draft picks, crystalizes the team's intent to move on from a malcontent who was less than truthful about his whereabouts and reasons for taking a leave of absence.
The Tropang Giga didn't just park Bobby Ray. They are shutting the garage doors altogether.
PBA hell hath no fury than an MVP scorned.
This is not to infer that Manny V. Pangilinan is vindictive. This only validates that he is decisive. With an empire to run and a upcoming conference to conquer, he has no time to wait for anyone.
MVP prefers winning than whining. He wants pros, not child's play.
Acquiring Williams, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound G League veteran who also saw action at the ABL and the MPBL, doesn't guarantee instant success.
Remember, a motivated Parks is a prolific scorer and above average defender.
You can't just cancel an asset like that and pretend he never existed.
But while Williams isn't necessarily a Most Valuable Player material just yet, he is worth the nurturing specially of the golden hands of the brilliant Chot Reyes.
THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS, TANTALIZING.
Ryan Gallardo, an accredited NBA writer who covers the Portland Trailblazers for PhilBoxing.com, called me a few weeks ago to recommend that I should write about Williams whom he assures is a damn good player who can dominate on both ends of the floor.
One of our SPIN.ph writers, Randolph Leongson, likens Williams' skill-set to that of Stanley Pringle, Ginebra's cold-blooded serial scorer.
Williams comes in minus the headache and the tedious soap opera - drama. He only brings a refreshing promise of labor peace that is devoid of the sort of kindergarten stuff that poisoned Parks' contract negotiation talks.
An active PBA agent, one of only 10 in the league, told me that Williams, 29, has a stellar work ethic and is "very nice."
From a performance and dependability standpoint, Williams' recent history suggests a durability that the injury-prone Parks can only hope to imagine.
What does the future hold for Bobby Ray Parks?
I don't know and I wish he still has a future in the PBA given how gloriously he burned the well-connected TNT bridge that had taken so many people to so many great places in life and basketball.
Officially, TNT has Parks' rights and my guess is that they're not eager to resume contract talks now that the draft is looming and Williams has been anointed as the knight in shining armor.
I wouldn't declare the Parks-TNT romance completely dead. But it's certainly going through a rough and challenging time.
I call that phase a sabbatical.
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