Meralco scores big pick-up

Reyes and Espinas: Palit jersey

After days of speculation, the Alaska Aces (under interim coach Luigi Trillo) have decided to send offensive-minded big man JayR Reyes to the Meralco Bolts for energy power forward Gabby Espinas in a trade that addresses both teams immediate needs.

The Bolts are looking for a big man to possibly supplant the aging and sure-fire future Hall of Famer Asi Taulava at the center position while the Aces want to move to a more uptempo approach with a rebounding athlete. At first glance, it's quite easy to deduce that the Bolts are the clear winners of this trade given the fact that Reyes is not only three years younger than Espinas, but is also only scratching the surface of his true basketball potential.


Espinas on the other hand, may have peaked a little too early-- say back with the Philippine Christian University Dolphins in the NCAA where he won Rookie of the Year- Most Valuable Player honors. Bouncing around the league, Espinas has never really found a home in the PBA until his 2nd season playing under multi-titled coach Ryan Gregorio who turned him into the Bolts' version of fellow Dolphin alum Marc Pingris-- only minus the Sakuragi swag.

With the Bolts, look for Reyes to either play the center position alternating with Taulava or play the power forward spot wherein he'd be a doppleganger of sorts for another Gregorio underling-- Kerby Raymundo. You heard it here first, we've always said that Reyes is Kerby 2.0, and now we get to see how the original Kerby's coach handles the young Reyes who plays like a beast one game, and looks timid the next.

A potential frontline of Reyes and SMART Gilas I alumna Jason Ballesteros may also prove to be in the Bolts' favor-- if only Ballesteros ever learns to toughen up for the PBA game (hey, he's still a rook).

For the Aces, they lost a legit scoring threat inside mainly because franchise player Sonny Thoss-- as hard working and efficient as he is down low, is nowhere near a Top 5 back-to-the-basket scorer. Breaking up their Reyes-Thoss frontline is Coach Luigi's call so we'll have to see where this one goes. Are they looking to run some more with Espinas helping in the rebounding department? Will Mac Baracael (who was under-utilized by former coach Joel Banal) finally get a chance to play the small forward position full time like he's supposed to?

Honestly, other than his athleticism and speed, the Espinas acquisition is quite redundant for the Aces. They already have a guy of the same game in Hans Thiele, so why get Espinas? Yes, Thiele isn't (or wasn't) half the player that Espinas is (or was), but the guy does the same things quite well (back with Barako Bull before he was traded to Alaska). Getting Espinas and expecting him to play with Thoss will also prove to be quite the challenge because neither are solid high post players, and are more finishers around the rim on offense. The Aces has a great combo with scorer Reyes and rebounder/ enforcer Thoss, not sure with Espinas-Thoss now.

Though the Governor's Cup is still a week away, things are already looking pretty interesting-- with another rumor, this time of an even bigger trade, making the rounds.

Basketball never sleeps. Not for the Aces, the Bolts, the PBA and its fans in general don't you agree?