The PBA offseason is usually the time teams reload and make big moves in an effort to improve their lineups, which is why it’s usually bustling with activity. The offseason leading to PBA Season 50, however, has been relatively quiet, with only a couple of notable trades—think Converge FiberXers—going down so far, just a few players changing teams, and others resigning with their respective squads.
Nevertheless, some teams have actually been making moves, and with three weeks to go before Season 50 tips off, there’s a distinct possibility that more transactions are coming. But, in the meantime, it appears some teams have had a head start and are winning the offseason with their shrewd moves.With that said, Rebanse has reviewed and assessed each team’s offseason and handed out grades depending on how well they did as of press time. We’ll start with arguably the two biggest winners of the offseason so far: the aforementioned Converge FiberXers and the Magnolia Hotshots.
Converge FiberXers (Grade: A)
Last Season: 24 wins, 18 losses (Made the quarterfinals of all three conferences.)
Key Offseason Moves:
- Traded Bryan Santos and the 8th pick of the PBA Season 50 Draft to the Phoenix Fuel Masters for the 2nd pick.
- Acquired Larry Muyang from Phoenix in a three-team deal that saw the Fuel Masters get Evan Nelle from the NorthPort Batang Pier, who in turn received Jeo Ambohot from Converge.
- Resigned Schonny Winston.l Picked Juan Gomez de Liaño with the 2nd overall pick and Kobe Monje with the 21st selection.
- Signed Rajko Toroman and Djordje Jovicic as consultants.
Converge’s core four of Justin Arana, Justine Baltazar, Alec Stockton, and Schonny Winston is one any coach would love to have. It has size, firepower, and versatility, and can do damage inside and outside, on offense or on defense. Now, after a predraft trade and the resigning of Winston, the FiberXers have added the dynamic Juan Gomez de Liaño. Together with Stockton and Winston, the former Gilas Pilipinas call-up would form an explosive trio that’ll give opposing coaches nightmares. What’s more, with these three exceptional scorers, expect Arana and Baltazar to feast in the paint, whether as primary inside options or playing off either JGDL, Stockton, or Winston.
Importantly, Converge also shored up its frontline with the acquisition of Muyang, a burly big man who previously played under newly installed FiberXers coach Delta Pineda. A Pampanga native like Baltazar and Pineda, Muyang figures to give extra toughness to Converge’s big man rotation and would come in handy against teams with big frontlines, notably the San Miguel Beermen and June Mar Fajardo.
Converge bringing in Toroman and Jovicic, both highly regarded Serbian coaches, shouldn’t be underplayed either. The two foreign coaches have a wealth of basketball knowledge and experience, and together with Pineda, they could form a brain trust—something akin to coaching by committee—that could go toe-to-toe even with the best PBA coaches, like Tim Cone, Chot Reyes, and Yeng Guiao.
These shrewd moves are enough to net Converge a grade of “A.”
What’s scary is that the FiberXers are still pursuing one mammoth move to top off its already solid offseason: signing Mikey Williams. If Converge somehow pulls that off, its offseason grade would be A+++.
Magnolia Hotshots (Grade: A)
Last Season: 19 wins, 16 losses (Missed the playoffs of the Governors’ and Commissioner’s Cup, made the quarterfinals of the Philippine Cup.)
Key Offseason Moves:
- Replaced coach Chito Victolero with LA Tenorio.
- Resigned Russel Escoto, Joseph Eriobu, and Peter Alfaro.
- Traded Jerrick Ahanmisi and a second-round pick in the PBA Season 50 Draft to the Terrafirma Dyip in exchange for Jerrick Ahanmisi.
- Drafted Yukien Andrada with the 6th pick of the PBA Season 50 Draft.
- Resigned Zavier Lucero.
Nothing against Chito Victolero, but it sure looked like he had worn out his welcome in Magnolia. The Hotshots had plateaued as a good team that can’t take the next step.Enter new coach LA Tenorio, whose wealth of hoops knowledge—some no doubt learned under multi-titled tactician Tim Cone—could help transform Magnolia into a true contender.
Already, Tenorio and his staff have shown they mean business, re-signing Escoto, Eriobu, and Alfaro, and then trading Jerrick Ahanmisi to Terrafirma in exchange for Javi Gomez de Liaño. This particular trade looks like a game-changer for the Hotshots as they upgraded Ahanmisi into a bigger, more versatile, and more well-rounded shooter in Gomez de Liaño.
Andrada, the 6th pick of the PBA Season 50 Draft, is another solid pickup for the Hotshots. At 6-foot-5, Andrada is the kind of playmaking 4 who can excel in the Princeton-Triangle hybrid Tenorio appears to be installing at Magnolia. The former San Beda Red Lion can also play some 3, giving Tinyente more flexibility in terms of lineup configurations.
These moves alone would have merited a grade of “B+” for Magnolia, but the team probably isn’t winning a championship if they didn’t resign their best player, Zavier Lucero. So, the Hotshots did exactly that three weeks before the start of the PBA’s golden season by locking up Lucero to a two-year extension. Not only is Lucero Magnolia’s best player, he is also one of the PBA’s best and brightest—and he’s only getting better. A superstar leap next season seems like a distinct possibility, and that could very well push Magnolia to the top.
With Lucero back, Magnolia gets a grade of “A.”
