The upcoming 49th PBA Season Draft got another blue-chip player in the list. Big man Justine Baltazar revealed that he will be joining the Rookie Draft set next month.
Pampanga’s sports director Allan Trinidad, who helped mold players like Baltazar and other PBA stars like Ian Sangalang, Calvin Abueva and Arwind Santos, confirmed the decision with the blessings of Governor Dennis 'Delta' Pineda.
The 6-foot-7 slotman, in fact, was supposed to be among the jewels of last season's draft but chose to stay one more season with Pampanga in the MPBL, where he lead the Giant Lanterns to a maiden championship.
Trinidad said Baltazar’s decision to finally join the PBA draft was both tactical and logical.
"Ang draft kasi is an opportunity to improve a team. And 'yan ang paraan para yung mga independent teams o yung mga laging nasa ibaba ng team standings eh mag-improve," the former San Sebastian coach said.
"Very timely din yung ilang taong pag-delay ni Justin na maglaro sa PBA kasi kailangan pa namin siya sa Pampanga. Nag-champion pa kami for the first time sa MPBL di ba?" he added.
It's no secret that Converge, who owns the number 1 pick, had long pined for the 250-pound big as the foundational piece of their rebuilding.
In the past two rookie drafts since Converge brought the Alaska franchise, the team snagged Jeo Ambohot (No.3) and Arana (No.4) during Season 47 and Schonny Winston (No. 9) and BJ Andrade (No. 10) for Season 48.
A woeful campaign in Season 48 including a 1-10 record in the Commissioner’s Cup clinched for the FiberXers the highly-coveted pick.
Although the league has yet to come out with the official draft order pending the conclusion of the season-ending Philippine Cup, back-to-back losing campaigns by the ballclub owned by Dennis Uy assured Converge getting its highest pick in franchise history.
Converge improved its record to 2-9 after concluding its Philippine Cup campaign last week. In all, the team finished with a season record of 3-19 and failed to advance to the playoffs in the two conferences.
The draft order is determined by the combined overall win-loss records of a team during the season, with the Philippine Cup comprising 60 percent weight and the Commissioner’s Cup the 40 percent.
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