Barangay Ginebra San Miguel head coach Tim Cone is hopeful that Sonny Estil, the 11th overall pick of the PBA Season 50 Draft, will have a “happy ending” at Ginebra. And that means him making the team and playing well.
“I hope he ends up with a happy ending, you know he earns his spot, and he becomes a really good player for us. That will be a great ending to a great story,” Cone told the PBA.
Well, Estil has cleared the first hurdle, which is getting signed by the team that drafted him. That’s certainly good news for the 6-foot-3 former Letran Knight as Ginebra let go of 13th pick Mario Barasi Jr. while offering a tender contract to 23rd pick John Abis (which essentially means Ginebra keeps his rights).
Now, Estil will be facing a more daunting task: earning a spot in Ginebra. And it appears Cone is rooting for a player whose journey to the pros was described by the veteran tactician as “a great story” of “a guy coming from nowhere and then ended up being a first-round pick with Ginebra.”
Signs Suggest an Uphill Climb for Sonny Estil
So, the question now is, does Sonny Estil have a chance to crack the Ginebra rotation and become a good player for the Barangay?
It’s certainly possible. After all, Cone himself acknowledged that Estil “has a lot of potential,” “runs the floor well,” and has “got good size for his position, which is important.” But realistically speaking, the odds of Estil earning a spot at Ginebra are probably slim. Even slimmer are his chances of actually excelling for the Barangay.
That’s because there are three things standing in the way of Sonny Estil potentially ascending into a good player in the PBA. The first is Cone’s history with rookies. The PBA’s winningest coach for the longest time has been reluctant to trust—and play—his rookies. There have been exceptions like lottery picks RJ Abarrientos and Scottie Thompson, but Cone by and large doesn’t play rookies, especially those taken later in the draft.
Second, Cone is notorious for using a short rotation, playing seven to eight guys heavy minutes and leaving the others warming their seats on the bench. This would be a problem for Estil as Ginebra’s core—Scottie Thompson, RJ Abarrientos, Stephen Holt, Troy Rosario, Maverick Ahanmisi, Nards Pinto, and Jeremiah Gray—already runs eight deep. That depth is Estil’s third big challenge as it means he’ll have to outplay established veterans and solid role players in Jayson David and Ralp Cu to actually earn rotation minutes.
Will Sonny Estil Have His Happy Ending?
Then again, that’s not to say the PBA Draft Combine MVP isn’t cut out to be a star in the PBA or at least a solid contributor. But it will certainly be a huge challenge for the young man.
Best believe, though, that Sonny Estil will go all-out to show he deserves to play for the Barangay. The hope here is that Cone would give him a fighting chance to prove himself.
