Cone to sit down with Slaughter

MANILA, Philippines — Ginebra coach Tim Cone, reacting to Greg Slaughter’s surprising decision to take a sabbatical after his contract with the team lapsed, said he will soon sit down with the 7-foot slotman. 

“I’m out of town at the moment and I don’t have any news on Greg at this time. We plan to speak with him and his agent over the next couple of days,” Cone said in a text message yesterday.

Slaughter formed Ginebra’s Twin Tower combo with Japeth Aguilar, helping Cone win four titles with the country’s most popular club.

Prior to his shocking announcement, Slaughter and Aguilar were expected to throw their weight inside the paint in the coming Philippine Cup specially with San Miguel’s superstar center June Mar Fajardo out of commission due to knee injury.

The Philippine Cup comes off the wraps on March 1.

The high-leaping Aguilar expressed sadness to hear his frontline partner deciding to leave.

“It will never be the same,” Aguilar posted on Twitter about Ginebra’s front court, adding a broken heart emoji to signify his feelings.

Slaughter, the 2017 Governors’ Cup Best Player of Conference, bid Ginebra farewell amid swirling talks on social media that the Gin Kings are about to ship him elsewhere, reportedly for NorthPort’s Christian Standhardinger.

 “Now that my contract has expired, I’ve decided to take a break to be able to work on myself in all aspects. I may not know what the future holds, but one thing is for sure, the best is yet to come!” he posted on Instragram and Twitter last Saturday.

The 31-year-old Slaughter, the top draft pick in the 2013 rookie draft, played for Ginebra his entire career, netting Rookie of the Year honors in 2014 and BPC in the season-ending tourney in 2017 and making the Mythical First Team once and the All Stars five times.

“Six years, four championships, a lifetime of experiences and memories, It’s been a fun ride being with this team. I will forever be proud to have played for Ginebra, a dream of mine that came true when they drafted me in 2013,” Slaughter said.