Japeth Aguilar will remain with Ginebra for the next three years.
Along with manager Marvin Espiritu and wife Cassie, Aguilar signed a max contract that will see him remain with the Barangay up until 2025.
By the time the contract expires, Aguilar will be 37 years old. With this, his hopes of playing overseas will probably flame out.
So what led to the second generation cager deciding to remain in the Philippine Basketball Association? Well, there was no offer actually sent to him by B.League teams, according to insiders from Aguilar’s camp.
Back in December, Aguilar only had a few days left in his existing contract.
Of course, there was interest for him from B.League teams. However, with Aguilar still bonded with Ginebra, no team attempted to make a formal offer. It would have risked another debacle like what happened with Kiefer Ravena a few months back if a team did so.
“Interested teams in Japeth never got a chance to make an offer to him mainly because he still had a contract,” said a foreign agent based in Japan, who requested anonymity.
“And they were in a rush.”
Aguilar had apprehensions over the past two months.
With a deal on the table from the San Miguel Corporation, Aguilar did not want to lose it. Taking a gamble meant that he would enter free agency.
What if SMC pulls the contract out? What if the best deal he can get in the B.League is just a one-year deal?
Aguilar’s camp had hoped for a quick offer sheet from the few teams they had spoken with. But it was an impossible feat, especially with the ongoing pandemic.
“So it never got to a point where an offer was made to him,” the source added.
“Besides, Japan has yet to open its borders for new entries that’s why teams in Japan have just been rotating imports.”
In the end, Aguilar ended up signing with the only real deal he had. After all, it’s still food on the table.
