ALASKA shocked the basketball community when it announced on Wednesday its decision to retire its franchise from the PBA.
It's a stunning development, yet one that has long been brewing especially with the economic landscape that businesses are in now.
But in the near-five decade history of the PBA, teams disbanding are no longer new with companies coming in and out of the league.
This, though, begs the question: what happens to the Aces once the season ends?
Spin.ph made a quick look at the archives to see what fates lie for these players.
Franchise sale
This one's the most common.
Franchises which cease to exist in the PBA often gets taken over by another company who's willing to put up a team in the league.
Pioneering team 7-Up Uncolas of owner Santiago Syjuco was the first to undergo this process as the team, which lasted in the league from 1975 to 1977, was acquired by Filmanbank of auto magnate Ricardo C. Silverio Sr. which retained the contracts of players like Larry Mumar and Jimmy Mariano.
Even in the modern age, these instances continued to happen.
Among the most recent purchaces include Powerade, which was bought by NorthPort; Air21, which was acquired by NLEX; Sta. Lucia, which was bought by Meralco, and the latest being Barako Bull, which was taken over by Phoenix.
What's interesting here, though, is that some teams went on 'firesales' before leaving, meaning they traded away key players to opposing teams before finally bidding the leave goodbye.
Being a class act, none of that happened at Alaska.
As much as five teams are now being reported to have inquired about the status of the Aces, but until such a deal becomes agreed and written in ink, nothing is set in stone.
Only three players under Jeffrey Cariaso have contracts that go past the Governors' Cup.
Open season
In the age of unrestricted free agency in the league, allowing all Alaska players to enter the free market is an interesting path for the league to take.
But it's not really that much of a foreign idea for the league.
Manila Beer had all of its players hold their fates within their hands when the Lucio Tan-owned franchise closed shop in 1986.
Among those who were allowed to sign freely elsewhere were guys like Atoy Co to Great Taste, Abet Guidaben to San Miguel, and Yoyoy Villamin to Alaska.
Making it a free for all, however, also comes with its own dangers with the league parity being more and more vulnerable given the prospects of the league's biggest free agents, like Chris Banchero and Rodney Brondial, opting to sign with the teams from the league's two most powerful blocs.
If that's the road the league wants to take, expect the strong teams to get stronger. A real scary situation.
Jeron Teng is hoping Alaska will be bought lock, stock and barrel.
Dispersal draft
Here's an idea that has never before been made in the PBA.
Of all the franchises that went defunct, the league has never employed a dispersal draft to equally distribute players to the remaining teams in the league.
Shell was initially supposed to hold a dispersal draft when it ceased to exist in 2005, but the players eventually went to free agency and signed with their preferred teams the following season.
It's an interesting prospect for the league to dabble, although that will only became possible if there are no takers for the Alaska franchise.
Doing so could only ensure a better layout for the league as a whole as the lower-rung teams can have first crack at securing the services of the Aces' top players.
Can you imagine the likes of Jeron Teng, Robbie Herndon, Abu Tratter, and Maverick Ahanmisi, among others beefing up the likes of Blackwater, Terrafirma, or NorthPort?
Best-case scenario, we think.
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