James Dickey III will be the first import for Phoenix Super LPG under the Charles Tiu era.
Tiu confirmed the development to Tiebreaker Times on Thursday.
“It’s really not the best time of the year to get imports since the leagues in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan are already in full swing, but we’re still lucky to get James,” said Tiu.
“Though he is still relatively young, he already has experience, and hopefully, with his height and athleticism, he can help us this conference.”
Dickey, who stands 6-foot-10, is a product of Division I school University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Going undrafted in the 2020 NBA Draft, he has since played overseas in Hungary, Germany, Israel, France, and Ukraine.
For the past two years, he was in Indonesia with Pelita Jaya, where he was teammates with Justin Brownlee.
Before being released by Pelita Jaya late last year, Dickey was averaging 18.7 points, 11.7 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game.
(C) PBA Images
Meanwhile, Tiu held his first practice with the Fuel Masters on Wednesday and said he likes what he sees.
Before Tiu took the helm, Phoenix Super LPG had already released RJ Jazul, RR Garcia, Yousef Taha, J-Jay Alejandro, Sean Manganti, and James Kwekuteye to free agency while also signing its 2025 first-round pick Will Gozum to a two-year deal.
Still, Tiu is confident in his core group.
“Jason [Perkins] will still be our leader on the court, and Ricci [Rivero] impressed me so much — he’s actually much better than I thought. I think he’s going to be a huge part of our team,” said Tiu.
“I also like our point guards Tyler [Tio] and Evan [Nelle]. They can really run our system well.”
Tiu added: “Even if our team is younger compared to the others, we’re ready to give every team a run for their money. We want to compete hard and show that we can be a tough matchup for anyone.”
