Maybe the second time is a charm for a possible Yeng Guiao and Jericho Cruz reunion.
After absorbing their fourth straight loss to start the 2019 PBA Commissioner’s Cup, NLEX Road Warriors lead assistant coach Jojo Lastimosa disclosed that the team is working on a deal to get Jericho Cruz to their squad.
“Ang mangyayari nito is, ang best case scenario dito is may trade kami na inaantay, si Jericho will come in.”
Cruz has long been idle for the TNT Katropa, having only played six games so far this season — all in the Philippine Cup.
Prior to the start of the conference, the 6-foot-1 combo guard was relegated to TNT’s reserve list. Cruz’s camp though claims that he is healthy and ready to go.
Before Cruz became a Katropa, Guiao had already been working on a trade between NLEX and Cruz’s previous team Rain or Shine a year ago. The talks though came crashing down as NLEX did not have enough assets to get Guiao’s godson back then.
But in order to make a trade happen this time around, NLEX needs to find a conduit as the Road Warriors and the Katropa are both owned by Manny V. Pangilinan.
NLEX though is desperate to make this transaction work as they are in dire need of a scoring source.
“Definitely, Jericho will help.
“And then JR [Quinahan] will be coming in next game. Obviously kailangan namin ng veteran presence and firepower and yung dalawa na yun, makakatulong,” Lastimosa continued.
The trade though is still in the works. What Lastimosa is sure of is that Yeng Guiao must be fuming right now.
“Wala kaming answers, we don’t know what’s going on kasi feeling namin yung mga players kapag nandito si Yeng, namumura sila and all.”