MANILA – Filipino-American forward will have another shot to fulfill his NBA dream after being invited by the New Orleans Pelicans to join their NBA Summer League team.
The 6-foot-10 big man is one of the players listed on the Pelicans’ roster for the pre-season tournament that is slated from July 7 to 17 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Hepa, whose father Roland has roots in Asingan, Pangasinan, went undrafted during the 2023 NBA Rookie Draft two weeks ago at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
He became eligible for the just-concluded rookie draft after recently completing his college eligibility with the University of Hawaii, where he had averages of 11.5 points, 6.6 rebounds, and nearly a block per game in his final season.
The Filipino-American forward previously played in the Philippines as a member of the Fil-Am Nation Select in the 2017 NBTC National High School Basketball Tournament.
Hepa is the third player with Filipino roots in the upcoming Summer League, aside from Kihei Clark of the Utah Jazz and Kai Sotto of the Orlando Magic.
Meanwhile, the Toronto Raptors have extended a two-way qualifying offer to Filipino-American guard/forward Ron Harper Jr., the team announced on Tuesday (Wednesday in the Philippines).
The move made Harper a restricted free agent and allowing the Raptors to match the offers if ever other NBA teams will try to sign up the 23-year-old cager.
Harper appeared in just nine games with the Raptors in the 2022-2023 NBA Season where he averaged 2.2 points, 0.8 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 0.2 blocks in 6.6 minutes of action.
The son of former Chicago Bulls legend Ron Harper Sr. spent most of his rookie year with NBA G League team Raptors 905, where he averaged 17.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.1 steals and 12 blocks in 32.7 minutes of play./PN
