Unfair? More on Lassiter deal

Kung ganito pa din laro ni Baclao ngayon, wala na
tayong pinag uusapan pa sana. Kaso hindi. 

Powerade's super rookie Marcio Lassiter for Petron's slumping sophomores Noy Baclao and Rey Guevarra. It's almost a done deal-- with a Thursday meeting among the PBA board the only remaining roadblock (which will ultimately be put aside as it always does with a couple of trademark Commissioner Chito Salud adjustments).

Petron (and San Miguel Corporation) fans are up in arms trying to defend their impending acquisition. Deflecting accusations of greed and self-preservation to their erstwhile rivals, the Manny V. Pangilinan group of companies. If there is any truth to the "Powerade on sale" rumors, then fans are quick to point out that this would be similar to what the Texters did when MVP bought out the Santa Lucia Realtors franchise but not before trading two star players to their own team.

PBA MVP Kelly Williams and then Rookie of the Year Ryan Reyes were shipped to the Texters prior to the sale where names like Ali Peek, Nic Belasco, Pong Escobal, Yousif Aljamal, Ogie Menor and a draft pick were involved. That's two legit PBA All Stars and promising talent for an MVP and ROY. The Texters were ready to lose five guys to add two.

Yes, Lassiter is neither an MVP or ROY, but it would be safe to surmise that right now, he's the clear frontrunner. Lutz is solid and is a PBA Fantasy team owner's wet dream, but he works in the shadows of stars Alex Cabagnot and Arwind Santos at Petron. JVee Casio's always going to be clutch, but Powerade is Gary David's team. Rain or Shine's Paul Lee is an OG, but he's shown inconsistencies with his play at times.

We're looking at Noy Baclao, a defensive juggernaut in college who decided that the best way to survive in the pros was to put on weight-- only, it appears that he was on the Joseph Yeo program instead of the Danny Ildefonso one. He hasn't had a meaningful game in the pros, even prior to the trade that sent him from original team Air21 to Petron. Everything's up in the air with this guy, the ceiling is high, but he's fallen so far off the map that we'd be surprised if he starts blocking at least 2 shots a game again.

Guevarra? He's always been a solid player in the NCAA, but second fiddle to Shopinas.com/ Air21's RJ Jazul. He's an upgrade over Francis Allera (who is UST's answer to Ateneo's Wesley Gonzales-- why they're still in the pros and not in the ABL while Junjun Cabatu is, is beyond me) but don't expect anything close to what Lassiter brings to the table.

For parity's sake, we pray that Commish steps in (as he always does) and throws in a player (or two) from the Petron camp that could at least command half the starpower of Lassiter's. Hey, how about bringing Joseph Yeo back to the team that drafted him 3rd overall years back-- a spot higher than Gabby Espinas (who was clearly robbed at the time).