MANILA – Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings boosted its title-retention bid in the 2019 Honda PBA Commissioner’s Cup with the acquisition of Stanley Pringle from NorthPort Batang Pier.
In the trade deal approved by the PBA Commissioner’s Office, Pringle was sent to the Kings in exchange for veterans Solomon Mercado, Jervy Cruz and Kevin Ferrer.
“We thank Stan for five great years. He’s been our sparkplug and we gained prominence because of his gutsy plays and the character he displayed on the court. In some of our games, he even played with pain,” NorthPort said in a statement.
The exit of Pringle from Batang Pier was long time coming with the former PBA Rookie of the Year curiously not being used by head coach Alfredo Jarencio the past few games despite already recovering from injury.
Pringle, however, will be a welcome addition to the already formidable backcourt of the Kings that features Earl Scottie Thompson, LA Tenorio, Jared Dillinger, and Bernabe Teodoro.
But the acquisition of Pringle will leave the Kings with a depleted lineup following the exit of Cruz, Ferrer and Mercado and injuries on Negrense Jeffrei Chan and Arthur dela Cruz.
Mercado, on the other hand, will make the Batang Pier backcourt stronger as he will join forces with rookie Robert Bolick, Jonathan Grey, Ryan Arana, Juan Nicholas Elorde, and Garvo Lanete.
Ferrer and Cruz will be a huge addition Batang Pier’s frontline as they aim to contend in the conference as they currently have 5-1 win-loss slate. The two also reunite with their former University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers mentor Jarencio.
“While we lost an exciting player in Stanley, we will have the experience of Jervy and Solo and the versatility of Kevin,” said Jarencio.
“In a sense, we will get bigger,” he added. “I want to have my former UST players, alam nila ang sistema ko.”/PN
