Petron Blaze will not just change its name back to San Miguel but it will also have a major revamp in its line up come Commissioner’s Cup as the Boosters acquired veteran guard Sol Mercado and forward Rico Maierhofer via block-buster four-team, seven-player trade approved by PBA on Tuesday.
photo credit: www.pba-online.net (NUKI SABIO)
On a one-on-one swap Petron shipped Alex Cabagnot to Global Port for the rights of Mercado, and then the Boosters dealt Jason Deutchman their second-round picks in 2016 and 2017 to Barako Bull for the former La Salle big man.
In separate deal, Batang Pier sent veteran wingman Leo Najorda to Barako in exchange for Jonas Villanueva, who they traded immediately to Air 21 to get Bon Bon Custodio.
With this trade, the known Sol-Train, who had a solid Philippine cup campaign averaging 18.93 points, 4.36 rebounds and 5.07 (–foul word(s) removed–)ists per game will bolster the San Miguel’s already formidable backcourt, teaming up with his buddy Chris Ross, who is expected to take over the starting point guard spot.
The 6’5 Maierhofer on the other hand, will shore up the Beermen frontline composed of Junmar Fajardo, Arwind Santos, Doug Khramer and Yousef Taha. The 6’7 Taha was supposedly involved with this big player movement for the team to get Justin Chua only to be pulled out due to technicality issue.
Meanwhile, Cabagnot who suffered an injury to start the season, has had inconsistent play this conference but could still provide veteran experience in the young backcourt of the Global Port.
Other ball clubs involved looked like also got significant pieces they needed as Express caught a point guard they are looking for to run the offense for them in Villanueva, Global Port got tough guard in Custodio and Barako received shooters in Najorda and Deutchman.
Here’s the trade Summary:
* Barako Bull acquired – Leo Najorda, Jason Deutchman, San Miguel’s 2016 and 2017 2nd round picks
* GlobalPort acquired – Alex Cabagnot, Bonbon Custodio
* San Miguel Beermen acquired – Sol Mercado, Rico Maierhofer
* Air 21 acquired – Jonas Villanueva
