No trades will be allowed on the floor when the PBA conducts its annual draft at Robinsons Place Manila this afternoon and that’s probably because Commissioner Chito Narvasa wants to be able to scrutinize every deal that comes along. Narvasa won’t get that chance if deals are negotiated on the floor.
It’s the same kind of due diligence that Narvasa did before approving the trade that sent Kia’s first round draft rights this year to San Miguel Beer in exchange for Rashawn McCarthy, Jay-R Reyes, Ronald Tubid and the Beermen’s 2019 first round pick. Narvasa said the trade went through different versions until both teams finally agreed to terms that he set.
With the first overall pick, San Miguel will no doubt select 6-8 Fil-German Christian Standhardinger even if he won’t be able to join the team until his six-month contract with the Hong Kong Eastern Sports Club expires at the end of the ABL season. Curiously, Standhardinger will make his ABL debut against Tanduay Alab Pilipinas at the MOA Arena on Nov. 19.
There is speculation that San Miguel may not hold on to Standhardinger and use him as trade bait for another much-sought-after player. Whether the speculation has basis or not is subject to question, if not more speculation which makes the dynamic trading process an interesting exercise of wheeling and dealing.
The drafting order in the first round is as follows: San Miguel Beer, NLEX, Blackwater, Phoenix, Alaska (from GlobalPort), GlobalPort (from Alaska), Rain Or Shine, Phoenix (from Meralco), Star, TNT, Ginebra and TNT (from Phoenix acquired from San Miguel). The teams without a first round pick are Kia and Meralco while Phoenix and TNT will choose twice in the opening round.
In the second round, the order is as follows: NLEX (from Meralco acquired from Kia), Star (from Kia acquired from NLEX), Blackwater, Star (from Phoenix), San Miguel (from GlobalPort), Alaska, Rain Or Shine, Star (from GlobalPort acquired from Meralco), Phoenix, TNT, Globalport (from Ginebra) and Phoenix (from San Miguel). Meralco and Kia will also not pick in the second round. Ginebra gave up its second round pick, too.
Of the 44 draft applicants, eight are Fil-foreigners – Standhardinger, Fil-Ghanaian Felix Apreku of Letran, Fil-Canadian Zach Nicholls of Arellano, Fil-Am Davon Potts of San Beda, Fil-Am Jason Perkins of La Salle, Fil-Swede Andreas Cahilig of Cignal, Fil-Am Julian Sargent of La Salle and Fil-Am Robbie Herndon of San Francisco State.
Only six players stand 6-4 and over – Standhardinger, 6-4 1/4 Lervin Flores of Arellano, 6-4 3/4 Joseph Gabyani of Lyceum, 6-5 JonJon Gabriel of Colegio de San Lorenzo, 6-4 Jayson Grimaldo of MLQU and 6-4 Jebb Bulawan of Lyceum. Those weighing at least 200 pounds are Arwie Bringas of La Salle/FEU at 257.8, Cahilig at 215.4, Chris de Chavez of Ateneo 204.4, Gabayni 246.6, Herndon 207.6, Toto Jose of FEU 210.4, local-born Fil-Nigerian Sidney Onwubere of Emilio Aguinaldo at 204.6, Sargent at 205.4 and Perkins at 225.
* * * *
The oldest pro applicant is local-born Fil-Indonesian Biboy Enguio at 29 and the youngest is Grimaldo at 22. There are 13 players who stand less than six feet with Thomas Torres of La Salle and Joseph Nalos of Adamson the shortest at 5-8.
Based on stats of the Philippine Cup this past season, the teams that badly need to shore up are Alaska (last in rebounding and fastbreak points), Kia (last in offense, field goal percentage and assists), Blackwater (last in defense), GlobalPort (last in turnover and second chance points) and Phoenix (No. 10 in offense, defense and field goal percentage). From what the draft applicants have shown in the D-League, NCAA, UAAP and combine, here are the 12 most likely to be picked in the first round, not necessarily in order – Standhardinger, Kiefer Ravena of Ateneo, Jeron Teng of La Salle, Perkins, Jose, Flores, Rey Nambatac of Letran, Onwubere, Sargent, Potts, Jett Manuel of UP and Herndon. Among the second round prospects are Nicholls, Enguio, Torres, Louie Vigil of UST and Apreku.
Who will be picked? Who are the consensus blue-chippers? Who are the draft sleepers? In today’s proceedings, former national team coach Joe Lipa will make his first appearance as Kia team manager on the draft floor while Louie Alas will sit down as the newly-appointed Phoenix head coach with Topex Robinson as assistant. At GlobalPort, Pido Jarencio will return as head coach with Rensy Bajar as assistant after Franz Pumaren was allowed a leave of absence to focus on Adamson in the UAAP until his Falcons contract expires next year.