ANTIPOLO – Converge is in no rush when it comes to Dave Ildefonso now that the young PBA franchise has acquired his rights.
But the FiberXers aren’t denying how excited they feel to have him in the near future, as their plans of building the best possible team are coming together.
“What happened with Dave, part ng long-term plans namin. We’re just getting ready sa future, pero wala pa namang assurance kasi Dave has a contract,” said head coach Delta Pineda after their 128-114 win over Phoenix on Saturday.
“Ano lang ‘to, we need to be one step ahead, two steps ahead sa plano namin talaga. Kaya ganun po kami, na kinuha po namin si Dave,” he added.
Converge on Friday finally acquired the rights of Ildefonso from Titan Ultra by trading rookie Kobe Monje plus a pair of future draft picks.
The deal was initially thumbed down, then later approved by the league following a minor revision. That should pave a much smoother path for the Ateneo product to play in the PBA after he and NorthPort couldn’t agree to terms.
The Batang Pier drafted the former Batang Gilas star with the fifth overall pick in the 2024 Draft, although he never played for the franchise that was eventually purchased by Pureblends last September.
So, the team owned by Bryann Calantoc inherited some of the old club’s assets, and that included the rights of players, one of whom was Ildefonso.
But the Giant Risers ultimately agreed to trade him to Converge, which has been building a solid core presently bannered by Justin Arana and Justine Baltazar, along with Alec Stockton and, recently, Juan Gomez de Liano.
Adding a talent like Ildefonso should make the team all the more competitive, but that may have to wait. The FiberXers are choosing to respect his decision to honor his contract with Abra in the MPBL first before anything else.
The 25-year-old joined the Weavers after failing to come to terms with NorthPort and has since become a key figure in the team’s rise in the regional league.
“I need to respect ‘yung decision nung bata,” said Pineda, who officially took over as Converge’s chief mentor before Season 50.
“Pero definitely, tapusin niya lang ‘yung contract niya with Abra then ‘yung rights niya nasa amin na.”
But the incumbent Pampanga vice governor is full of optimism that Ildefonso will be donning the purple and teal once he finishes his stint with Abra, which runs until the 2026 season of the regional league.
“Siguro naman, Dave wants to experience ‘tong the biggest, toughest league dito sa bansa natin, kaya for sure pupunta talaga siya sa PBA,” he said.
#WATCH: “ITO ANG INAASAM NAMIN NA BACK-TO-BACK!”
Head coach Delta Pineda and Alec Stockton react after Converge’s big win over Phoenix 🏀#ReadMore 👉 https://t.co/TGNMAPiX8Q
📹: @justinebacnis /Tiebreaker Times#PBA50 pic.twitter.com/UYxGswYQWH
— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) October 25, 2025
