KUALA LUMPUR – Is this possibly the best Meralco team put together?
It’s an intriguing prospect now that Justin Brownlee and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson are preparing to reinforce the Bolts in the 2025-26 EASL season.
The MVP-owned franchise made the announcement on Thursday via social media, formally introducing the two after weeks of speculation.
“We want to win the EASL for the country and for the PBA,” said Meralco governor Bill Pamintuan to the league’s official website.
“We are leaving no stones unturned, make no mistake about it.”
This is a monumental development as two of the greatest imports to play in the PBA will be teaming up for the very first time.
That, after being in the center of heated battles between Barangay Ginebra and TNT in the last few years — highlighted, of course, by Finals duels.
Moreover, their partnership ensures that they’d be in shape should their mother teams call them back as Season 50 begins with the Philippine Cup.
Adding more excitement is the latest addition to the Meralco roster through last Sunday’s draft, in which it picked Jason Brickman at No. 7 overall.
The veteran internationalist’s arrival gives the Bolts a major threat at the one, as the 33-year-old is expected to quarterback the offense of Coach Nenad Vucinic.
Vucinic serves as the chief mentor of the 2024 Philippine Cup champions in the EASL, and these three should give him elite weapons to lean on in their charge.
Meralco has also fortified its frontcourt by bringing in 6-foot-8 bruiser Ismael Romero, who’s a mainstay of the Puerto Rico men’s team.
Romero is a BCL Americas champion, and he’d be joining forces with ‘JB’ and the former NBA vet, both of whom have won numerous titles here and abroad.
These four will most likely join Chris Newsome in the first five, and such a lineup appears so promising for the franchise’s bid to get over the hump in the EASL.
Meralco has been competing in the pan-regional competition since the 2023-24 festivities, but it has yet to set foot into the Final Four.
Perhaps the closest it got was in the 2024-25 wars, only to bow to the New Taipei Kings, 106-96, in double overtime in the virtual KO for a semis slot.
With that prospective starting unit — plus guys like Chris Banchero, Bong Quinto, and Raymond Almazan — the Bolts are indeed hoping to finally succeed.
Meralco is in Group C of the 2025-26 EASL edition, together with the Taoyuan Pauian Pilots, the Ryukyu Golden Kings, and the Macau Black Bears.
