MOST of the Gilas Cadets were already distributed in principle to Philippine Basketball Association teams following a marathon league board meeting Thursday night.
The special draft for the Gilas aspirants, which was originally to be conducted tomorrow during draft day itself, took place earlier than expected in a shotgun procedure, where the PBA teams decided an undisclosed pre-draft order and tabbed their preferred players from the national team program.
“In a lengthy meeting held October 27, 2016, the PBA board decided on the procedure for the drafting of Gilas Players,” said the PBA in a statement. “It was approved by the PBA board that each team will select one player from the Gilas cadets pool.”
As expected, sources confirmed that former Far Eastern University star Mac Belo was the top pick and was selected by Blackwater, while Phoenix reportedly went with Filipino-American wingman Matthew Wright.
Recently-crowned Governors’ Cup Barangay Ginebra further bolstered its already strong line-up as it tapped versatile forward Kevin Ferrer out of University of Santo Tomas.
Despite the acquisition of playmaker Paul Lee and already having a surplus of guards, Star still went with Jio Jalalon, widely considered as the top guard in the amateur ranks and the MVP of the one-day rookie camp tournament the other day, considering that he might be the best available talent during its turn.
San Miguel went big as it got La Salle slotman Arnold Van Opstal, who is expected to play a back-up role to superstar June Mar Fajardo, while vastly improving Mahindra bolstered its frontcourt by getting Russell Escoto, also from FEU.
TNT KaTropa, GlobalPort, NLEX, Alaska and Meralco are teams who were still left undecided on their picks. They have Mike Tolomia, Roger Pogoy, Ed Daquioag, Carl Bryan Cruz and Fonso Gotladera to choose from.
Even with the leakage of some of the special draft results for the Gilas players, the PBA is still keeping it under wraps as the formal announcement will still be held tomorrow at the draft proper at the Robinson’s Place Manila scheduled at 4 p.m.
“The selection and announcement of the Gilas Players shall precede the drafting of the other players in the regular draft.”
Following that announcement, the regular draft occurs with Blackwater picking first once again.
Expected to go high in the regular draft are the likes of Ael Banal and Gelo Alolino.