Guiao looking to make most of Nambatac trade in PBA Draft

MANILA, Philippines – Rain or Shine Elasto Painters head coach Yeng Guiao is hoping that sending Rey Nambatac to the Blackwater Bossing in a trade a few months back will be worth it.

This as the Elasto Painters will be picking twice in the first round of Sunday’s PBA Draft, owing the seventh and eighth selections. 

At the sidelines of the PBA draft combine on Thursday, Guiao said he plans to make the most of the Nambatac trade through the draft, as they will be targeting the best available talent when their turn comes. 

“Every time you are picking [on the seventh, eighth picks], you are just looking for the best talent. You do not have any control over the position you want or the type or style of player that you want. You do not have that luxury,” he told reporters in Filipino. 

“Especially, we know that the batch is top-heavy. So, whoever is the most talented, we feel the most talented at that point, that is who will pick,” he added, as he did not names on any possible picks. 

He also underscored that the draft pool is deep, especially with the late additions to the draftees. 

“With the late entrants, like RJ [Abarrientos, Jonnel] Policarpio, even [Kai] Ballungay and Dave [Ildefonso], it gave value to our numbers seven and eight picks. We are happy that the draft became deeper because when we were trading for one of the slots, we were thinking if it will be worth it, given that we gave up Rey Nambatac for it,” Guiao said.

“For us, that is what the value that we are looking for, hopefully we did not lose in our past decision,” he added. 

A few months after Nambatac was dealt to the Bossing, he was shipped to the TNT Tropang Giga. 

Aside from the two first round picks, the Elasto Painters will also pick thrice in the second round. 

The team will be looking for hidden gems, which is what they also found in Jhonard Clarito and Adrian Nocum.

However, Guiao bared that they will be looking to possibly trade their picks in the second round as they may not have enough slots for new players. 

“Even if we pick in the second round, we might not be able to put them in our regular lineup. So, we’re looking to maybe trade it for future picks also… we’re actually exploring that,” he said. 

“If not, we will still draft in the second round and we will have a good problem. We will see how they are in practice and then we’ll be left to decide. But to me that’s going to be a good problem.”