Small moves, new beginnings

Still waiting for Jervy to live up
to his Baby Patrimonio potential
(Photo credit to the owner)

Finally, a couple of PBA off-season deals that we could write about!

Who would've thought that it would be the GlobalPort Batang Pier squad of Boss Mikee Romero doing all the wheeling and dealing off/ pre-season? And no, it's not to serve at any of the two giant corporation's pleasure even but to actually try and continue building a legitimate darkhorse contender for the coming season.

There are rumors however that this is only the beginning, and that more trades will follow suit. No worries, the more trades and transactions there are going into next week's 2015 PBA Draft, the more copies we can write, rave and rant about!

Tuloy ang ligaya kahit off-season!

Jervy Cruz to GlobalPort, Jewel Ponferada + 2015 PBA Draft 2nd round pick to Rain or Shine



The 2007 UAAP MVP Jervy Cruz will finally be able to play under his college coach, Pido Jarencio, at GlobalPort after spending his entire PBA career with RoS. Will we get to see the "old" 20-20 Cruz back now that he has a shot at playing more minutes? It's quite hard to tell at this point, but if there's anything going for the Nueva Ecija standout is that he often plays his best during the Philippine Cup and is only 29 years of age. What's also nice for Cruz is that he will be playing off Terrence Romeo, Stanley Pringle and Joseph Yeo who will undoubtedly command the attention of opposing teams. If you can recall, this was almost the same ploy used by Jarencio over at UST when they won the title-- the guards and wings (Jojo Duncil, Dylan Ababou, Anthony Espiritu) peppering opponents with outside shots while Cruz did much of the dirty work inside finishing off Japs Cuan's kamikaze spin drive and dish plays.

For RoS, they're looking at a willing banger who is a year younger in Ponferada. While he isn't exactly a threat on offense, Ponferada has a decent jumpshot and gives up playoff worthy fouls. You could say that RoS downgraded somewhat, but then again they received a 2nd round pick to go with this trade which could be used to acquire more young talent.

The grades:

GlobalPort: A

RoS: B

What? GlobalPort isn't done yet? Okay...

Denok Miranda to Talk'n'Text, Jay Washington to GlobalPort

What would it take for NLEX Road Warriors head coach Boyet Fernandez to be reunited with his championship Santa Lucia core? Well, if he could only find a way to move over to TNT, they now have his old wards Ryan Reyes, Kelly Williams AND the lynchpin of Fernandez' Realtors' defensive gameplan-- Miranda.

Anyhow, TNT just got a true point guard who can slide over to the 2 spot on defense with no worries as a capable back-up to Jayson Castro. Miranda's much improved offensive game is also going to be a lot of help, since it will spread the floor even more for the rest of the guys while Reyes continues to be in and out of the Texters' roster due to injuries (has he ever had an injury-free season with TNT?) Sure, they lost some ceiling with Washington gone and Williams out due to injury, but this team is already looking at adding 2015 PBA Draft number one pick shoo-in Moala Tautuaa (or Troy Rosario) who stands 6"7 so they should be okay in the long run.

Basically, Castro: Derrick Rose and he just got himself a primed, Baby Bulls era Kirk Hinrich in Miranda to run with.

Over at GlobalPort and they are welcoming Washington back into the fold. For the nth time. Seriously, is there any other player who has jumped from Team SMC to Team MVP back and forth more than Washington at this point? Skills-wise, if he plays up to par, Washington is one of the finest hybrid forwards in the PBA. Problem is, it appears that those stat-stuffing days are a thing of the past post his run with San Miguel. He won't get the ball from Romeo, maybe he'll get some love from Pringle. Not sure if Coach Pido is a fan of his, or if Joseph Yeo won't see him as "larong mayaman." Anyway, Washington is a 6"7 athlete who can play both forward spots with relative ease and could be used in GP's running game-- if he chooses to run that is.

The grades:

GlobalPort: B+

TnT: A

On a side note, bet money Yeng Guiao wouldn't have traded Cruz if he didn't bone-headedly drop that TV on his foot now last conference. Lol.