Jericho Cruz closed his final week with NLEX with two wins.
By next week, Cruz will be trading his bright orange Road Warriors jersey for San Miguel Beer’s historic red jersey on March 1 – the first day he hits unrestricted free agency.
Multiple sources closely monitoring the situation have told Tiebreaker Times of this development as early as last Wednesday.
And the 31-year-old Fil-Guamanian bid his farewell to the Road Warriors following their 109-100 overtime win over Rain or Shine on Friday.
“Glad we got the win today,” Cruz tweeted. “Always thankful or you Boss Rod [Franco], Boss Ronald [Dulatre], and of course Coach Yeng Guiao for everything.
“To my NLEX Fam and coaching staff, LOVE YOU ALL! Good luck with your next games. Thanks for a great run.”
Cruz arrived in NLEX back on June 10, 2019 after the Road Warriors figured in a three-team trade with TNT and Northport.
Along with Ravena and Alas, Cruz was one of the scoring leaders for NLEX over the last three years. This conference, he is averaging 10.2 points per game.
Now, he fills a void in NLEX.
In his last game with the Road Warriors, Cruz posted numbers of 13 pts on 6-of-11 shooting with six rebs, two steals, and an assist.
Guiao, for his part, gave his godson Cruz the freedom to choose wherever he wanted to go.
“Si Jericho, bahala siya sa buhay niya,” he quipped. “Bahala si Jericho sa buhay niya, ayoko pakialaman muna kung ano yung desisyon niya.
“I’ll gave him the leeway to make that decision, exercise his free agency. But we have an offer for him. But mamimiss namin kung sakali kasi ang ganda ng nilalaro niya e these past few games.”
Cruz will make his San Miguel debut on Thursday against Rain or Shine as well.