PBA approves 5-team, 10-player swap

MANILA, Philippines – With only two more weeks to go before the PBA Commissioner’s Cup opens shop, five teams struck a multi-player swap in their hopes to challenge for the title in the long haul.

First to be approved is the 10-player deal involving Barako Bull, San Mig Coffee and Petron.

In the approved trade, Barako Bull sent Ronald Tubid, who is fresh from the team’s promotional tour in Cebu’s Sinulog Festival, to Petron Blaze in exchange for this season's third overall pick Alex Mallari and Jojo Duncil. Then Mallari was shipped to San Mig Coffee alongside veteran Leo Najorda, rookie Lester Alvarez and a 2014 first round pick (acquired from Petron) in exchange for JC Intal, Jonas Villanueva and Aldrech Ramos.

The multi-player swap, however, did not end there as Brgy. Ginebra and Alaska also joined with separate deals.

Barako Bull dealt Ramos to the Aces for Mac Baracael, who in turn became a King in exchange for former PBA D-league MVP Allein Maliksi.  Maliksi is now reunited with the team that originally drafted him.

“That’s a balanced trade that makes the teams involved more competitive,” PBA Commissioner Chito Salud told Philstar.com after putting his stamp of approval on the series of trades.

The PBA Commissioner’s Cup featuring imports with unlimited height will tip-off on Feb. 8.