If at first you don't succeed...

Rabeh: big man who could
balance the Tigers' attack

After PBA Commissioner Chito Salud vetoed the initial trade that would've sent the Powerade Tigers' super rookie Marcio Lassiter to the Petron Blaze Boosters for little used sophomores Noy Baclao and Rey Guevarra, a new deal is reportedly in the works.

Clearly, both teams are in connivance to somehow make sure that Lassiter ends up with the Boosters regardless of the names that they have to send over to the Tigers. As of this writing, rumors have it that temperamental power forward Rabeh Al Hussaini will take Baclao's spot in the revised offer.

Personally, this would be a better deal since it gives the Tigers a reliable, scoring big man and a back-up guard rather than a player whose best (defensive) years were spent in college (the added weight obviously hasn't helped Baclao one bit-- it has only slowed him down and made him even more of a liability since his offensive skills are quite limited inside the shaded lane as a drop-pass/ offensive rebound/ putback option).

Together again for Lassiter and Lutz?

From an all-locals standpoint, the Tigers will be more balanced with Al Hussaini playing exclusively at power forward, Doug Kramer sliding over to his natural, rebounder-bruiser role at center, and Sean Anthony getting more minutes at the small forward position as the energy guy. JVee Casio and Gary David are locks at the backcourt, so you can pretty much expect 30 to 50 points (depending on the KKS Bataan Bomber's hot hands) easily between those two. Throwing an Al Hussaini to the mix? Wow, not bad really and that in itself would be a big blow to the Boosters' frontline (given Danny Ildefonso's age and injuries, and Rob Reyes' raw offensive skills).

Of course, who's to say that the Boosters (or any other team under the San Miguel corporate umbrella) won't get Al Hussaini back at some point (probably when he starts averaging double figures) the way things are going in the PBA the last four or five years?

Long story short, this is the best deal the Tigers can get from the Boosters for Lassiter other than a Joseph Yeo-Noy Baclao package (but Yeo's already getting up there in mileage and would eat into David and Casio's ball time). In trading Lassiter, they're giving their most energetic player (Anthony) a chance to shine in a bigger role while getting a valuable piece who could make an immediate impact for the team right from the get go.

Don't buy into anything Coach Bo Perasol says from here on out. It's pretty clear that he's just as out of the Coca Cola loop as the soon to be resigning JB Baylon is when it comes to key decision. If that wasn't the case, then the Lassiter trade talks would've and should've died down with the vetoing already.