NLEX denied holding out Maurice Shaw.
In a statement released by the Road Warriors on Wednesday morning, the team denied that it is preventing the 6-foot-9 Filipino-American from playing.
The team also bared that Shaw has been a free agent for the past month.
“Shaw is an unrestricted free agent, which means any team can pick him up without giving anything in return to the Road Warriors,” read the team’s statement.
“To set the record straight, the Road Warriors were even planning to include him in their 3×3 squad under the Cavitex Braves to play for the league’s inaugural stand-alone tournament, but the player didn’t meet the eligibility standard as he was still unvaccinated during the submission of the lineup.”
Last March, Shaw, along with Roi Sumang, was traded to NLEX. Blackwater served as a conduit in a three-team trade that also involved TNT.
Shaw, the second overall pick in the 2019 PBA Rookie Draft, did not play a single game for NLEX in the Philippine Cup.
Shaw only played three games for Blackwater in the 2020 Philippine Cup.