Kings deal Balanza to Batang Pier

MANILA, Philippines — Barangay Ginebra worked out a trade deal with NorthPort to enable the team to get the latter’s 13th overall selection in the deep PBA Rookie Draft tomorrow.

The Gin Kings shipped sophomore Jerrick Balanza to the Batang Pier while they swapped their second round picks. Ginebra originally held the 24th overall spot.

As a result, the reigning Philippine Cup titlists will get to draft 12th in the first round then pick first in the second of the March 14 exercise stacked with a record 86 rookie aspirants.

The Tim Cone-coached squad is reportedly eyeing Jerrick Ahanmisi or Josh Torralba for the newly-acquired Round 2 pick from NorthPort.

Balanza reunites with his Letran coach, Bonnie Tan, who is NorthPort’s team manager.

The Gin Kings and the Batang Pier finalized the deal a week after their massive one-on-one switch between Greg Slaughter and Christian Standhardinger.

Meanwhile, the crowd darlings re-signed ace guard Scottie Thompson to three more years yesterday. Terms were not disclosed but a source said it’s a max deal for the 2015 first-round pick.

With this contract extension, Thompson would no longer be a part of the PBA’s first batch of “unrestricted free agents” in 2022.