After months of rumors, Terrafirma finally pulled the trigger on trading its ace CJ Perez. And it came in a transaction with San Miguel.
Trade papers for the trade sending Perez to the Beermen in exchange for Gelo Alolino, Russel Escoto, and Matt Ganuelas-Rosser, along with the eighth overall pick in the 2021 PBA Rookie Draft, are currently pending approval, according to Dyip governor Bobby Rosales.
“It still has to go through the trade committee, but I think it’s a fair trade,” said the amiable executive to Tiebreaker Times.
The PBA trade committee consists of deputy commissioner Eric Castro; operations staff Roscelle Teotico and Junior Bengua; and legal counsel Atty. Melvin Mendoza.
For Rosales, trading Perez, their top overall pick in the 2018 Rookie Draft, was a difficult but necessary decision.
Back in the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup, the Dyip only had one win despite Perez’s numbers of 24.36 points, 6.82 rebounds, 4.27 assists, and 2.0 steals per game.
“It was a difficult decision. Alam naman natin kung gaano kagaling si CJ Perez kaya mahirap bitawan,” expressed Rosales.
“However, you can’t get something of value without giving up something. It has to be a win-win situation to pass the scrutiny of the trade committee.”
The kicker for Terrafirma was the first round pick of the Beermen.
Seen as the deepest draft class ever, Terrafirma owns the first pick but no second round pick, stemming from the complicated three team trade that sent Jericho Cruz from TNT to NLEX.
Rosales shared that the Dyip need to beef up its frontline with that pick. Entering the draft are the likes of Troy Rike, Larry Muyang, Ben Adamos, Santi Santillan, and James Laput.
“Well, everybody agrees that this forthcoming draft will be rich in talent. I agree that depth was our problem last year. So if you look at our decision in this trade, we are the first pick but our next chance will be number twenty-five since we don’t have a second round pick,” said Rosales.
“So, we thought also that we can get a better chance of getting a better talent if we get San Miguel’s number eight. That will be very early for us to get another talent. That is our major consideration in doing this trade.”
Moreover, having vets in Alolino, Escoto, and Ganuelas-Rosser will be of huge help to the young Dyip.
“Veterans sila. Role player yang si Ganuelas-Rosser, a defensive player. Si Gelo is a natural point guard. We needed that since he is a veteran. Russel is a proven talent and he is familiar with our team,” explained Rosales.
In the end, Rosales is confident that the trade will be approved.
“I think it’s a fair trade naman.”
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