MANILA – Rain or Shine Elasto Painters has finally ended its partnership with problematic center Raymond Almazan by trading him to the Meralco Bolts in exchange for future draft picks.
The PBA Commissioner’s Office has approved the trade that send the former No. 3 overall pick to the Bolts in exchange for 2019 and 2021 first round draft picks to the Painters.
The 29-year-old former Gilas Pilipinas center could be a welcome addition for Bolts head coach Norman Black, who has been looking for a big man that will shore up his undersized team.
“We’ve gone quite a few years without a big man who can man the paint, particularly in the All-Filipino conference,” Black said. “Almazan is one of the best bigs in the country and he gives us some size.”
“Hopefully he can come in and help us inside the paint because he’s a good shot blocker, he’s a good rebounder, and he can score around the basket,” he added. “I will say that he’ll definitely help us get better, but we’ll see what happens.”
The Painters was reportedly forced to let go of the center due to his unresolved off-court issue with Painters head coach Carlos Garcia, who happens to be Almazan’s coach at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran Knights.
Almazan had an issue with Garcia during the 2017-2018 PBA season that led to the latter going absent without leave (AWOL) prompting the management to slap him with team suspension.
Almazan made amends with the team at the onset of the 2019 Honda PBA Philippine Cup and have appeared in six matches before sitting out due to a minor injury he sustained while with Gilas Pilipinas.
Despite healing his injury, Almazan was curiously was not inserted by Carlos in the semifinals round even if the Painters were heavily undersized against the Magnolia Hotshots./PN
