Williams or Oftana for TNT

MANILA, Philippines — With their newly-acquired No. 4 pick in Sunday’s PBA Rookie Draft, the TNT Tropang Giga put themselves in prime position to select a blue-chip rookie to fill in the spot left by player-on-leave Bobby Ray Parks Jr.

“Munzon or Malonzo,” said coach Chot Reyes when asked who among the record 86 rookie aspirants the team is setting its sights on.

Reyes is referring to Fil-Am slasher Joshua Munzon and athletic forward Jamie Malonzo, who are largely viewed as the top two prospects in the March 14 exercise.

But the availability of the 6-foot-4 Munzon or the 6-foot-6 Malonzo will be totally dependent on how the teams in higher draft positions – Terrafirma, NorthPort and NLEX – go about their selections.

If Munzon and Malonzo won’t be available anymore by the time TNT uses the fourth pick, the Tropang Giga will still have a large pool of talents to choose from, led by former G League player Mikey Williams.

The 6-foot-2 Williams, who played for G League side Canton in 2016-18, looms as a bright prospect to join veteran playmaker Jayson Castro in the Parks-less TNT backcourt.

There’s also NCAA MVP Calvin Oftana, a 6-foot-5 all-around forward from San Beda and Gilas cadet who could shore up the frontline.

TNT originally did not have a selection in the first two rounds of the exercise after trading the rights in past deals. But the PLDT franchise deemed it best to try to acquire a Round 1 pick, especially after Parks decided not to play this season due to personal reasons.

Yesterday, the Tropang Giga entered into a three-team deal with original No. 4 holder NLEX and Blackwater that gained PBA approval.

The Road Warriors first traded the fourth selection to the Bossing for Don Trollano, Roi Sumang, Maurice Shaw and the latter’s 2022 second round pick. Blackwater then shipped the No. 4 to TNT in exchange for David Semerad, Simon Enciso, and the Tropang Giga’s 2023 first-round and 2024 second-round selections.