In the aftermath of the 2018 PBA Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals, the Best Player of the Conference race has seen the emergence of a new leader in San Miguel Beermen’s June Mar Fajardo.
The reigning, four-time Most Valuable Player has hiked his statistical points from 36.8 to 38.7, all thanks to the big games he put out in their sweep of the TNT KaTropa in the quarters.
Fajardo has now taken the lead from Alaska Aces star Vic Manuel. The 6-foot-4 forward, who scored over 20 points for 11 straight games, has 37.58 from the 37.2 he had after the eliminations.
In the race for the season MVP award, Fajardo is unsurprisingly at the forefront with a runaway total of 29.6 SPs, setting him on pace to earn his fifth straight MVP honor.
If ever the Cebuano superstar wins his fifth MVP crown, he will now have the most MVP collections in league history.
Second is GlobalPort Batang Pier’s Stanley Pringle (25.3). Pringle has been stellar this season – he even scored 50 points in their 133-115 win over Columbian Dyip last June 22.
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel’s Japeth Aguilar (23.6) is currently ranked third. Rounding out the Top Five are Fajardo’s teammates Arwind Santos (23.4) and Alex Cabagnot (22.0).
Meanwhile, Jason Perkins of the Phoenix Fuel Masters currently leads the Rookie of the Year derby with 15.10.
At second is Blackwater Elite’s young bruiser Raymar Jose with 9.94, and coming in third is the sweet-shooting Robbie Herndon of the Magnolia Hotshots with 9.09.
Christian Standhardinger of SMB, 2017’s top pick, is not in consideration as he missed the 2017-2018 Philippine Cup, while NLEX Road Warriors’ Kiefer Ravena is serving his FIBA suspension.
