MANILA –Jerrick Balanza will have a new team in his sophomore year in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) as he was shipped by Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings to NorthPort Batang Pier.
In a trade approved on Friday, the Kings sent Balanza and its second round pick (24th overall) for Sunday’s PBA Rookie Draft to the Batang Pier for the latter’s second round selection (13th overall).
The Kings reportedly pushed for the 13th overall pick on top of their number 12 selection as they hope to land gunners Jerrick Ahanmisi and Joshua Torralba in the rookie draft.
After steering Colegio de San Juan de Letran Knights to National Collegiate Athletic Association’s championship two years ago, Balanza was selected in the first round by the Kings in the 2019 PBA Rookie Draft. He was a PBA champion in his first year with the Kings during the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup bubble but was sparingly used by head coach Tim Cone due to team’s loaded backcourt.
Balanza’s transfer to the Batang Pier did not come as a surprise as he was supposed to be part of Christian Standhardinger-Gregory Slaughter swap between the two teams last week.
At NorthPort, Balanza will reunite with his former Letran coaches Bonnie Tan and Jeff Napa, who serve as Batang Pier’s team manager and assistant coach, respectively. He is also the fifth Ginebra player to move to the NorthPort side aside from Slaughter, Kevin Ferrer, Jervy Cruz, and Ilonggo Juan Paolo Taha./PN
