After Saturday’s blockbuster trade that saw Jonathan Grey (from the Meralco Bolts) and Bradwyn Guinto (from the NLEX Road Warriors) shipped to the Globalport Batang Pier, the Mikee Romero-owned franchise now has four Gilas Pilipinas pool members on their roster — Grey and Guinto join Terrence Romeo and Von Pessumal.
According to Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas executive director Sonny Barrios, Globalport were aware of the repercussions prior to making that trade.
“Wala the same pa rin. It’s in the MOA [memorandum of agreement] na kahit mag-trade, pool member pa rin sila. Aware sila about it,” Barrios shared during the Chooks-to-Go Gilas Pilipinas send-off held last Wednesday.
During the off-season, the SBP and the Philippine Basketball Association figured in an agreement that two players from each team will comprise the Gilas Pilipinas pool, with the SBP and the PBA splitting the salaries of the cadets. Barrios clarified that the players’ commitments to the National Team are live even if they are traded.
“If you want to put it into an extreme, kung yung 12 players nasa isang team, they have to deal with it,” Barrios added.
And this will be a problem for Globalport if Gilas Pilipinas breaks through in the 2017 SEABA Championship. A win means the Philippines will automatically qualify for the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup this August in Lebanon. Coinciding with the tournament will be the 2017 Southeast Asian Games in Malaysia.
Currently, the plan of the SBP is to have two separate teams for the SEA Games and the FIBA Asia Cup, thereby utilizing the entire pool.
With the possibility of four players being pulled out of Globalport come July (if Gilas wins the SEABA Championship), this will be a huge blow to their 2017 Governors Cup campaign… unless they figure into another trade.
