It’s becoming too obvious that Darius Days’ stint with TNT is coming to an end.
Coach Chot Reyes himself revealed that he and his staff will decide on their import situation ‘pretty soon’ after the former LSU Tiger submitted another underwhelming outing in their eventual win over Converge on Tuesday.
“To be very honest, we have to make a decision on that pretty soon,” said the straightforward mentor after their 110-107 win at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium, which laid their two-game skid to rest in the PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup.
Since posting back-to-back 20-point showings in their first two games of the tilt against Macau and Titan Ultra, Days’ scoring dropped significantly. He scored just 10 points in their next pair of outings, including versus the FiberXers.
Taking into account their previous meeting against Terrafirma, the 26-year-old forward has shot a combined 7-of-3 from the floor. And his woeful shooting has negatively impacted the defending conference champions, Reyes admitted.
It doesn’t help, either, that he has seemingly already booked his next destination.
(C) Illawarra Hawks
Just hours before TNT’s matchup with Converge, the Illawarra Hawks of Australia’s National Basketball League announced on their official social media channels that they were bringing Days back for the 2026-27 season.
Still, he suited up and played against the FiberXers, although he was on the bench during the last two minutes of the tightly-contested bout. He wasn’t brought back until the last 9.1 seconds, when he was part of the five that closed it out.
Days even tried to help Rey Nambatac create some space by setting up a pick near center court, but the lefty guard opted not to use it, instead attacking Alec Stockton before rising for the game-winning trey to beat the buzzer.
Asked about switching imports, Reyes even joked with the press.
“Panalo kami, ba’t kami magpapalit?” he said with a smile
Turning serious, the champion bench tactician admitted that the team is indeed considering it, before adding that it’s no longer the same Days they signed up a couple of years ago for the same conference.
“That’s still up in the air. We’re definitely considering it. But Darius is not the Darius Days that we had a couple of years back. He’s completely out of shape, overweight, and I think it shows in his game,” he lamented.
“And obviously, it’s affecting the game of the locals.”
