PBA tour open to rookies

The first-ever PBA preseason “on tour” will start May 21 with each team scheduled to play 11 games up to July. Arrangements are now being made to stage some contests in provinces, mainly in Luzon, to bring the league closer to where the fans are. For PBA coaches, it’s an opportunity to test free agents and rookies planning to apply for the draft in September. Veterans may or may not see action to give others a chance to showcase their wares but coaches will probably encourage holdovers to play even for a bit so they’re able to experiment with combinations. The word is a team will be allowed to submit a roster of up to 20 players.

The coming draft will be held after the FIBA World Cup which ends on Sept. 10. The Asian Games are set on Sept. 23-Oct. 8. It’s likely the PBA will conduct the draft before the Asian Games. The 48th season will commence in October with the Philippine Cup.

Nothing is certain as to the players applying for the draft. The long wait for the next PBA season to start could induce blue-chippers to explore overseas options. Three players who’ve come home from seeing action abroad are Kobe Paras, Ricci Rivero and Kemark Carino all of whom are eligible as rookies. However, there is a PBA rule that needs to be clarified as a player who skips the draft to play overseas is given three years within which to apply and if he dodges, the penalty is a two-year sit-out. Thirdy Ravena’s case is an example. He’s now on his third season in the Japanese B-League. If he doesn’t join this year’s draft, the rule is a two-year sit-out.

There is another PBA rule that puts a prospective rookie in a pure lottery involving all 12 teams once he decides to join the draft within three years from playing abroad. Does this mean Justine Baltazar, who skipped the last draft to play in Japan, will be a lottery pick and not join the regular draft if he applies this year? What about Rivero, Carino and Paras? Do they go through the lottery or the regular draft? The rule doesn’t apply to Sedrick Barefield because he was ineligible for the previous draft. If he joins this year, Barefield will go through the regular draft and could be the first overall pick.

The draft order in the first round is as follows: Terrafirma, Blackwater, Rain or Shine, Rain or Shine (from Phoenix in the Javee Mocon trade), NorthPort, NLEX (from Converege in the Tyrus Hill trade), Phoenix (from NLEX in the Justin Chua trade), Meralco, Converge (from TNT in the RK Ilagan trade), Magnolia, NorthPort (from Barangay Ginebra in the Jamie Malonzo trade) and Terrafirma (from San Miguel Beer in the CJ Perez trade). The order was determined by the team standings with 40 percent for the Philippine Cup and 30 percent each for the Commissioner’s and Governors Cups.

Among the highly-touted rookies who could join the draft are Paras, Rivero, Baltazar, Barefield, Fran Yu, Will Gozum, BJ Andrade, Deschon Winston, Raffy Verano, King Caralipio, Luis Villegas, James Kwekuteye, Carino, Zavier Lucero, Jeremy Arthur, Lawrence Domingo, Brandon Bates, Keith Datu, Warren Bonifacio and CJ Lane. A PBA rule disqualifies Fil-foreigners to enter the draft when they’re over 30. That would bar crack Fil-Ams Jason Brickman and Caelan Tiongson from playing in the PBA.