MANILA – Several PBA team officials have expressed opposition to the lopsided trade proposal that will send Calvin Oftana to TNT Tropang Giga and Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser to NLEX Road Warriors.
Panay News learned from sources that some team officials want the PBA Commissioner’s Office to veto the three-team, six-player trade that was agreed upon by the involved teams on Wednesday.
Aside from the Tropang Giga being the obvious winner with the acquisition of Oftana and Negrense center Raul Soyud, PBA teams were also contesting the move of Ganuelas-Rosser, the No. 1 overall pick in the recent PBA Draft.
“There was an agreement before among the PBA executives and owners na hindi pwedeng i-trade ang No. 1 overall pick for certain period of time so talagang may issue ang trade na ito,” one of the source said.
The source recalled that the “no immediate trade on the No. 1 pick” rule originated in 2017 when the Terrafirma franchise traded its No. 1 pick, Christian Standhardinger, to the San Miguel Beermen for several bench players.
In the pending trade deal, the Road Warriors will ship Oftana and Soyud to the Blackwater Bossing in exchange for Ganuelas-Rosser and injured Paul Desiderio.
The Bossing then quickly shipped Oftana and Soyud to the Tropang Giga for veteran forward Jeth Troy Rosario and reserve three-point gunner Gabriel Banal.
PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial and his staff had the option to veto the trade for the Tropang Giga, Road Warriors and the Bossing to restructure by including some players of draft picks to make it look balanced.
A third overall selection by NLEX in Season 46 draft, Oftana is a rising star of the league; he averaged 17.0 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.6 steals per game last conference.
The Bago City, Negros Occidental native Soyud has flourished as an effective undersized center under then NLEX coach Yeng Guiao. He was also a candidate for Most Improved Player of the Year two seasons ago.
Ganuelas-Rosser, on the other hand, was limited in his first conference with the Bossing due to injuries but still normed 11.1 points and 3.5 rebound per game. Desiderio, who is facing a domestic abuse case, is out for the rest of the season due to an ACL injury.
Rosario had a downgrade in performance for the Tropang Giga in the Philippine Cup but still produced 10.5 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, while Banal was a bench warmer for TNT in the All-Filipino Conference./PN
