OSAKA – Converge couldn’t sign up top overall pick Justine Baltazar to a PBA contract.
Not right now.
With the big man out of La Salle still under contract with Pampanga in the MPBL, the FiberXers have to wait until the sixth season of the home-and-away league ends by December before he can sign his first-ever PBA contract.
“He has a live contract with Pampanga, plain and simple. You can’t have two playing contracts at the same time,” said Converge governor Archen Cayabyab.
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“So he can only sign with us until the MPBL ends or when the season of Pampanga ends.”
Baltazar, 27, has already expressed his intention to finish his commitment with the Giant Lanterns, the reigning MPBL champion, before he moves to the FiberXers.
The same was true with other PBA draftees who have live contracts in the MPBL, such as Mark Nonoy (Terrafirma), CJ Cansino (Meralco), CJ Catapusan (Terrafirma), Mike Malonzo (Rain or Shine), Brandon Ramirez (NLEX), Didat Hanapi (Terrafirma), Miguel Corteza (Blackwater), Paolo Hernandez (Terrafirma), Kurt Reyson (Meralco), and Jayson Credo (Converge).
Nonoy, Cansino, Catapusan, and Credo are with the Iloilo United Royals, Malonzo and Hernandez are with the San Juan Knights, Reyson and Ramirez with Pampanga, Hanapi with Manila Batang Sampaloc, and Corteza with the Marikia Shoemasters.
Of course, any of the players can sign up with their PBA mother teams once given clearance by the MPBL ballclubs.
The same can be applied to the case of Baltazar.
“Depende rin iyan kay Gov. Delta (Dennis Pineda),” said Cayabyab, referring to the Pampanga governor, who owns and once coached the Giant Lanterns, and at the same time, is listed as one of three managers of Converge.
So far, rookie draftees who formally signed a contract include Felix Lemmeti and Francis Escandor for Rain or Shine and Evan Nelle for Northport.
The top five picks have yet to be signed, namely Baltazar, Sedrick Barefield, RJ Abarrientos, Kai Ballungay, and Dave Ildefonso a week after the draft.
Barefield is set to arrive in the country from the US on Monday, while Abarrientos and Ildefonso are fresh from the successful title conquest of the Strong Group Athletics in the just concluded Jones Cup in Taiwan.
Ballungay, according to Phoenix, will be signed within the week.
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