Baculi says big trade will strengthen GlobalPort

MANILA, Philippines – GlobalPort Batang Pier head coach Junel Baculli believes that the recent whirlwind trade they have consummated will make them a stronger team in the Governor's Cup.

GlobalPort received versatile forward Jay Washington from Petron Blaze, rookie center Yousef Taha from Barangay Ginebra and a 2013 first round pick from Barako Bull in exchange for athletic big man Japeth Aguilar, Jason Deutchmann and couple of second round picks.

“I think on paper we have improved because we got two very good players but we’ll see if it will translate to winning games in the next conference,” said Baculi.

With the Governor’s cup still months away because of the FIBA-Asia basketball championship in between, Baculi hopes they will be ready in time for the last conference of the year.

“Matagal pa naman yung conference. I hope the new players will adjust well to our system and be a big help in our campaign,” he said.

Aguilar, the former number one pick of the 2009 PBA Draft and a key member of the Gilas Pilipinas national basketball team, is a hot commodity in trade talks for weeks. Baculi even confirmed that they have been getting a lot of offers for him even before the start of the second conference.

“There were a lot of offers for Japeth even before the Commissioner’s cup started but I really wanted to try and win with our current team then. Unfortunately, we didn’t win enough so we wanted to look at other opportunities for us to improve,” said Baculi.

Meanwhile, Barako Bull received Elmer Espiritu in exchange for their 2013 first round pick that was originally owned by the Talk N Text Phone pals.