WHEN the clock ticks 12 to welcome the new year, expect a flurry of movement in the PBA front.
Members of the 2014 PBA Rookie Draft class not bound to contracts will make up the first batch of players to become unrestricted free agents under a rule passed by the league board late in term of former commissioner Chito Salud.
Meralco guard Nards Pinto, NLEX gunner Jericho Cruz, and Phoenix guard Chris Banchero are among the first players that stand to benefit from the landmark board decision that ushered in real free agency in the 46-year old league.
Several other players' contracts are set to expire at the stroke of midnight after Commissioner Willie Marcial and the PBA board members stopped the practice of rolling over contracts automatically in a Covid-hit season.
"By December 31, matatapos na lahat ng contracts," said Marcial. "So kung hindi sila pinapirma ng bagong kontrata, mga free agents na ang mga 'yan."
All contract extensions should be forwarded to the PBA office by Monday.
New contracts
Actually, all members of that class, led by top pick overall Stanley Pringle of Barangay Ginebra and Kevin Alas of NLEX, should automatically become UFAs by January 1, but most of the big names of the batch have been tied down to contracts.
Pinto's case is different.
Pinto, a second-round pick of NorthPort in that 2014 draft who has earned a place in Meralco coach Norman Black's main rotation, is set to turn unrestricted free agent when his contract with the Bolts expire at the stroke of midnight, sources said.
The Davao-born guard, 31, has yet to sign a two-year extension being offered by the Bolts, sources added.
On the other hand, Cruz, the ninth pick by Rain or Shine in that draft, has signed an extension until February 2022 that will enable him to finish the current Governors Cup with the NLEX Road Warriors.
If unsigned by then, the former Adamson star will automatically turn into an unrestricted free agent.
Banchero, the Fil-Italian guard picked No. 5 by Alaska in that same draft, is signed with Phoenix until the end of January. He turns UFA at the end of that deal.