THE PBA Season 50 Draft will soon be with us. To be exact, it will be on September 7 and rightly, the league has reason to celebrate this momentous occasion.
On this anniversary, the league, as usual, will welcome a new set of rookies. Some of them will be great and become superstars, others will survive the challenges and play longer with passable skill, while a few will see their professional basketball dreams shattered early.
This year's draft will be a bit unique as two of the PBA's 12 teams are up for sale. Despite being in the market, the two teams - Terrafirma and NorthPort - will continue to participate in the draft.
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That situation may create some uneasiness among the incoming players who may feel being drafted by the two teams is not the best way to start their professional basketball careers.
Still, the draft will likely proceed as planned and SPIN.ph has made some calculations using the results of Season 49's three conferences to come up with the order of picking players in the draft.
Thre is no surprise, however, as to which team is picking first. It is Terrafirma, the team that has been for sale for nearly a year but whose buyers (there were two) could not reach an agreement with Terrafirma management. It is also the team with the worst record in Season 49 of the PBA.
PBA rules take into account the team's performances in the Governors’ Cup (30 percent), Commissioner’s Cup (30%) and the all-Filipino Philippine Cup (40%) to determine the draft order of the following season.
Here is the UNOFFICIAL, we repeat, UNOFFICIAL draft order based on SPIN.ph’s computations, with previous transactions also considered.
1. TERRAFIRMA
For the fifth time over the last eight drafts, Terrafirma will be picking first after finishing dead last in all three conferences. But in a pattern that has continued to defy logic, nearly all the team's first overall picks have been traded away. These include Cjay Perez, Roosevelt Adams, Joshua Munzon, and Stephen Holt. Though this year's top pick may have some apprehension about his future with this team, he can lay those fear aside as he likely will be traded before the ink in his contract has dried.
2. PHOENIX
The Fuelmasters will pick at No. 2, its highest in franchise history. Phoenix, under new head coach Willy Wilson, will have a shot at getting a marquee name after it struggled in the 49th season where it finished 11th in the Governors’ Cup, 12th in the Commissioner’s Cup, and ninth in the Philippine Cup.
3. BLACKWATER
After picking at No. 2 over the previous two drafts and No. 1 during Season 47 (2022), Blackwater is selecting at No. 3. The Bossing nearly made the playoff in the season-opening Governors’ Cup but a late collapse proved fatal. The Bossing placed ninth, was ranked No. 11th in the Commissioner’s Cup and 10th in the Philippine Cup. Whoever is the No. 3 pick will have Sedrick Barefield and Christian David as company, the team's top picks over the last two drafts.
4. NORTHPORT
Even with a semifinal finish in the Commissioner’s Cup, the Batang Pier will be selecting at No. 4 after placing 10th in the Governors’ Cup and 11th in the Philippine Cup. This will be a chance for the team to rebuild after losing Arvin Tolentino, who left for Korea, and William Navarro, who also left for Korea after being traded to Magnolia late in the 49th season. The Batang Pier are hoping for a different story this time. Their first-round pick last year, Dave Ildefonso, opted not to play for them.
5. NLEX
The Road Warriors had a good run in the Philippine Cup last season where they finished second in the eliminations. NLEX, however, was booted out of the quarterfinals by Rain or Shine to finish fifth in the rankings. Since it finished eighth and ninth in the Governors’ and Commissioner’s Cups, respectively, NLEX will be picking at No. 5, an opportunity for the Road Warriors to build from their Philippine Cup run.
6. MAGNOLIA
LA Tenorio’s first pick as the Magnolia head coach will be at No. 6, its highest since Ian Sangalang was taken at No. 2 by San Mig Coffee in the 2013 draft. The Hotshots will have a crack at a marquee name after finishing in seventh place in the Governors’ Cup, eighth in the Commissioner’s Cup, and sixth in the Philippine Cup.
7. MERALCO
The Bolts were a perennial playoff contender last season, and thus, are set to pick at No. 7 after placing fifth in the Governors’ Cup, sixth in the Commissioner’s Cup, and eighth in the Philippine Cup.
8. CONVERGE
Fresh from picking Justine Baltazar at No. 1 in last year’s draft, Converge will be taking the No. 8 spot following a respectable showing in the 49th season with a sixth-place finish in the Governors’ Cup, fifth place in the Commissioner’s Cup, and seventh in the Philippine Cup.
9. SAN MIGUEL
Despite being the champions of the Philippine Cup, the Beermen will be picking relatively early at No. 9. San Miguel placed fourth in the Governors’ Cup, but missed the playoffs in the Commissioner’s Cup, ranking 10th in the conference which affected, perhaps for the better, their draft position.
10. RAIN OR SHINE
For finishing the semifinals in all three conferences during the 49th season, Rain or Shine will select at No. 10. The Elasto Painters finished third in the Governors’ Cup, and fourth in both the Commissioner’s and Philippine Cup.
11. BARANGAY GINEBRA
After taking RJ Abarrientos at No. 3 in last season’s draft with a pick acquired in a trade with Terrafirma, Barangay Ginebra is back at selecting late for this year at No. 11 with their runner-up finishes in the Governors’ and Commissioner’s Cups and third in the Philippine Cup.
12. RAIN OR SHINE (from TNT)
TNT was supposed to be picking last at No. 12 in the first round. But it is going to be Rain or Shine which will be drafting at this position following a September 2023 trade where it gave up Henry Galinato and Jewel Ponferrada to TNT for the Tropang 5G’s first round pick.
Hence, Rain or Shine will be picking in the first round twice this year.
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