Right now, the Meralco Bolts would need an additional warm body to defend the paint after losing Nelbert Torres in the free agency market. They signed Ladis Lepalam, a 6-foor-9 center, to a one-conference contract after selecting him as their 48th pick in the last PBA Draft. However, the product of St. Benilde is still too raw to bang bodies in the pro league.
Raymund Almazan, Cliff Hodge, Brandon Bates and Kyle Pascual are the old-reliables, but is it enough? Will the addition of former PBA player Greg Slaughter alleviate their predicament? Of course, it will. However, it depends on the cost.
Last year, Slaughter played for the Manila Stars in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL), where the center is hitting shots at a high clip of 67.1 percent, while averaging 15.7 points and 9.8 rebounds in 18 elimination round games.
The four-time PBA champion's decision to restart his domestic career in the MPBL follows a two-season stint in Division 2 of the Japan B.League with Rizing Zephyr Fukuoka.
Slaughter posted meager career averages of 3.92 points, 2.56 rebounds, 0.44 assists, 0.43 blocks and 0.13 steals in 75 total games played over a two-year period in Japan.
Carrying a 7-foot, 258-pound frame, the 2013 PBA draft top pick had seven-year career with Barangay Ginebra in which aside from four PBA titles, earned him Rookie of the Year honors in 2014, a Best Player of the Conference nod in 2017 and a Mythical Team and five All-Star selections to his name.
Pure Blend's Titan Ultra Giant Risers, the new kid in town for the PBA, curently holds the right over Slaughter. They were reportedly interested to pay the asking price of Slaughter, which is PhP 800,000 monthly. The contentious part of the negotiation is where the center is asking for a lot of 'add-ons.'
Aside from the base pay, sources bared Slaughter is also asking for a monthly allowance, allowances for provincial games, and for the team to cover his trainer’s fee.
For now, Titan Ultra is open to reopening negotiations with Slaughter, but did not deny the possibility of trading away the signing rights of the former Ateneo and Ginebra star, which the franchise inherited from NorthPort. One of the teams being eyed as a trade destination is Meralco Bolts.
A package consisting of Pascual and a first-round pick in next year's draft would make sense for Titan Ultra to take in exchange for Slaughter.
The question, though, is if Meralco can afford to shoulder the PhP 800,000 monthly salary of Slaughter aside from the additional incentives he is asking? If not, then they are better off signing Justin Chua for a lower price, with almost the same amount of production.
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