Strike First: David to Meralco, Cardona to Air21

Finally, a star that
#BansangMeralco can cheer for
(Photo courtesy of Sports5)

Just when we all thought that we'd be able to enjoy a reprieve from the highly addictive madness that is the Philippine Basketball Association once the PBA Governor's Cup Finals duel between Petron Blaze and San Mig Coffee is through, we are greeted with a barrage of pre off-season, marquee trades.

We've already touched on the recent trade that saw GlobalPort hotshot Gary David moving over to Meralco, now we breakdown the rest of the wheeling and dealing that went down the last few days. For argument's sake and our readers' reference, we've added their 2012-2013 season averages (minutes, points, rebounds and assists). Props to the folks behind www.pba-online.net 

Trade 1

Meralco
Gary David, SG (28.49 mpg 17.10 ppg 2.98 rpg 1.7 apg)
Go-to-scorer that fits Meralco's Dribble Drive Motion Offense owing to his range, up there in years (35) and mileage but is as proven as you can get.

A.J. Mandani, PG  (15.25 mpg 5.07 ppg 2.14 rpg 1.76 apg)
PBA shooting guard size with a point guard's mentality. Needs minutes on the floor to matter, from what we've seen of Mandani, he's pretty much a Fil-Am Denok Miranda.

GlobalPort
Chris Ross, PG (28.62 mpg 5.21 ppg 4.19 rpg 6.6 apg)
Stat-stuffing, cat-quick defensive point guard with a broken jumpshot. Rumors have it that this won't be his last stop.

Chris Timberlake, PG (10.74 mpg 1.87 ppg 0.88 rpg 1.13 apg)
Is Timberlake a victim of having little to no minutes? His PBL run was very promising though it hasn't translated much in the pros. Will have a hard time cracking the rotation with Sol Mercado, Ross, Willie Miller and Rudy Lingganay playing the same position more or less.

2015, 2016 2nd round picks
Because Team SMC and their affiliates need to have safeties on all fronts.

Trade 2

Air21
Mac Cardona, SG (27.23 mpg 12.12 ppg 4.06 rpg 2.45 apg)
There are pretenders born of hype and there are scorers through and through. Don't be surprised if Cardona takes over Air21 sooner than later (because who really believes that Nino Canaleta and Asi Taulava are going to stay put by season's end?).

Pamboy Raymundo, PG (6.13 mpg 1.23 ppg 0.58 rpg 0.48 apg)
Raymundo's earned his stripes in the pros as an enforcer type of point guard. He's not at par skills or speed-wise with other PGs, but give him a year under the tutelage of Wyne Arboleda and he could very well carve a niche in the pros. Upgrade still over Simon Atkins.

Bam Gamalinda, SG (7.82 mpg 1.94 ppg 0.94 rpg 0.4 apg)
We like Gamalinda in terms of him being a solid role player. We don't like him because, quite frankly, there's a boat load of talented cats out there who have yet to crack a PBA rotation simply because they're not under a big basketball program.

Meralco
Rabeh Al Hussaini, C (17 mpg 9.63 ppg 4.91 rpg 0.87 apg)
With all the player acquisitions made by Meralco, all that was left was a serviceable center. Well, they got one in Al Hussaini who is arguably the most skilled of his young peers offensively. On defense and overall discipline however...

Bitoy Omolon, SF (17.34 mpg 4.74 ppg 3.09 rpg 0.66 apg)
Solid pick up for Meralco as starting forward Jarred Dillinger's alternate. A suave inside operator and perimeter defender, Omolon was "misused" the first time out with Meralco and even over at Air21. Let's see if things change this time out.

Talk 'n' Text
Noy Baclao, PF (15.35 mpg 3.10 ppg 3.89 rpg 0.79 apg)
Can TNT head coach Norman Black revive his prized college ward's pro career? Already dismissed as a bust by most PBA circles, Baclao will get the chance to prove his worth and probably reinvent himself in the pros while learning the trade from TNT ace player Ranidel de Ocampo.

Rob Reyes, C (15.67 mpg 4.60 ppg 4.40 rpg 0.80 apg)
Great, under-the-radar pick up by TNT. Reyes is a solid big man who doesn't try to look cute on the floor-- he knows that he's in there to grab rebounds, play defense, block shots and make the open dump pass shots. Think of him as a younger Billy Mamaril only with less offense, less gulang.

Eric Salamat, PG (9.66 mpg 2.52 ppg 0.93 rpg 0.69 apg)
Who here thinks that Salamat is only in the pros because of his pedigree? He has the size to play the guard position in the PBA, he can make shots, but he needs to put in the work to earn any playing time (behind Jimmy Alapag, Jayson Castro and Ryan Reyes, it's not going to be easy). Doesn't have the speed to really "hang" with the elite 2-guards of the PBA either.

2015 2nd round pick
Nice. Again, if you can make "small" trades while also building for the future-- that's an instant win on our books.

Your thoughts?