BARANGAY Ginebra? San Miguel?
These are the two teams believed to be the next destination of Troy Rosario, who officially became an unrestricted free agent after securing his release from mother club Blackwater Bossing.
“This is to certify that Blackwater Bossing has formally released Mr. Troy Rosario from the team,” said Blackwater team governor Silliman Sy in a memo sent to the PBA on Wednesday - a copy of which was secured by SPIN.ph.
COLUMN: Blackwater makes lucrative offer in bid to keep Troy
“Mr. Rosario is free to entertain offers from other teams. We wish Mr. Rosario all the best,” he added.
Sources told SPIN.ph Blackwater made a last-ditch effort to convince the second overall pick of the 2015 PBA draft to stay put, especially after an impressive Governors’ Cup campaign that saw prolific import George King and Rosario lead the charge.
Under the new rules of PBA free agency, all players drafted from 2015 can automatically declare for unrestricted free agency after his seventh season in the league. A revision done during the pandemic turned the time span to 21 conferences.
According to people close to him, the 6-7 big man is most interested in joining Ginebra, which is said to be his favorite team growing up.
But aside from the Gin Kings, also in hot pursuit of the former Gilas Pilipinas mainstay is its sister team San Miguel. Both teams under the care of businessman/sportsman Ramon S. Ang are in need of a steady big man.
Between the two, however, it is Ginebra that is in dire need of a frontliner following the injury to Isaac Go and the trade of former star slotman Christian Standhardinger.
Another source bared that Rosario also has a standing offer to play in the Japan B.League that guarantees a salary of close to P1.2 million per month.
TNT, sources added, is also in the mix to reacquire Rosario, but it is believed to be at the low end of Rosario's priority list following its decision to trade the sweet-shooting big man to Blackwater back in 2022.
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