After more than a week of PBA Draft 2025, teams are now busy with their offseason rookie signings more notably, Rain or Shine, Ginebra and San Miguel have made the latest moves.
Ginebra Signs Sonny Estil, Extended Tender Offer to John Abis and Releases Mario Barassi Jr.
According to fastbreak.ph, Head Coach Tim Cone has confirmed that they will sign their 1st round pick Sonny Estil.
“We signed Sonny, he will be ready to go (for the Philippine Cup).”
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Estil is a 6-foot-3 guard/forward that has previously played with the Pampanga Lanterns from the MPBL and was selected as the 11th pick for the Gin Kings in the 1st round last September 7.
Cone didn’t disclose how long was the contract that Sonny signed.
“We also released Mario to NorthPort and tendered John but allowed him to return to Perpetual and will revisit him at the end of the NCAA season,” he added.
The 6-foot-8 big Barassi Jr. was selected as the 13th pick during the 2nd round and is now competing for a spot in the Northport Batang Pier lineup while their guard John Abis is given a tender contract keeping his rights with the crowd darlings of the PBA.
San Miguel Beermen Signs Chris Miller to a 2-Year Rookie Contract
The SMB have signed the 32 year old scoring guard Chris Miller to a 2-year rookie contract.
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According to Spin.ph, this move was confirmed by Team Manager Gee Abanilla.
Miller was selected as the 9th pick in the 1st round given his proven background playing overseas and he also won the Three-Point shootout in the last Draft Combine.
Rain or Shine Keeps Rights of their 5 Rookies by Giving them a Tender Offer
The Rain or Shine Elastopainters may have done one of the most shocking moves in the offseason by giving tender offers to 5 of their rookies to keep their rights with the team.
First reported by Spin.ph, Christian Manaytay, Jun Roque, Mark Denver Omega, Deo Cuajao, and Joshua David were all retained as per head coach Yeng Guiao.
They then had to let go of: third-round (No. 34 pick) Cole Micek, fourth-rounder (No. 45) Kyle Tolentino, and fifth-rounder (No. 55) MJ Dela Virgen.
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However there is a twist, contracts have yet to be signed since Manaytay and others are still finishing their commitments in other leagues.
Manaytay, who was selected as the 10th pick in the 1st Round, is currently under contract with the Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards in the MPBL, while Roque, the No. 12 selection in the 1st round will still play for Letran in the NCAA.
Omega drafted as the 20th pick and Cuajao as the 22nd are also with Letran and will wrap up their collegiate stint in the NCAA Season 101. While David, at 24th in the draft, is also playing in the MPBL with the Abra Weavers.
Both NCAA and the MPBL will end their season by December and Head Coach Yeng Guiao isn’t really concerned with the prior commitments by his rookies.
“Hindi naman kami nagmamadali with regards to the rookies,” said Guiao.
Overall Thoughts and Ratings with the Rookie Signings
For Ginebra, I’ll give them:
3.5 / 5
This is due to the fact they have somehow answered the problem for the departure of Jamie Malonzo. Estil can undoubtedly fill the void in their forward department considering how injury prone Jeremiah Gray is. It’ll be interesting how well Sonny can play with their other young wing, Joshua David.
This still hasn’t really solved the issue in the frontcourt considering Isaac Go isn’t fully healed yet with his ACL injury. The 6-foot-8 big from Terrafirma Dyip has been on the Ginebra sidelines for a year now. Japeth Aguilar is now nearing 40 years old and Troy Rosario can’t do it all for them in the middle.
For San Miguel Beermen, I’ll rate them:
5 / 5
This is because they have finally gone younger (?) I mean yes, a 32 year old Chris Miller may seem to only give them a few good seasons but it’ll be a lot better considering that their main guards: Marcio Lassiter and Chris Ross are over 35 years old already.
Not only did they get a well experienced backcourt guard to pair with Jeron Teng which saw his career get revived with SMB but also finally found the successor for Chris Ross.
The only issue that I can see here is: playing time for Miller.
For Rain or Shine, I’ll rate them:
4 / 5
They still haven’t gotten a young 6-foot-10 big for them but at least they’ve multiple forwards and guards which can undoubtedly help the team win and move in the Finals.
Coach Yeng Guiao is also known as a great developer of young players, he can mold these young guys into star players or solid role players in his squad just like what he did with Jonathan Clarito and Leonard Santillan.
