Red flags were raised when Terrafirma traded yet another former top overall pick ahead of the opening of the Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup on 22 January.
Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao frowned on the idea but is leaving the public to judge if the transactions done by the Dyip are justifiable or not.
He said he hopes the league will listen to the public and address the alarming situation.
“I’ve been the lone voice in the wilderness and everybody knows that,” Guiao, a seven-time champion mentor, told Daily Tribune.
“But I leave it to the public, the criticisms, the negative reactions, because what I’m going to say doesn’t change anything. But I’m sure the PBA will listen to the public. Sooner or later, they will realize that.”
On Thursday, the Dyip parted ways with 2020 top overall pick Joshua Munzon, who was shipped to NorthPort in exchange for role player Kevin Ferrer.
The Commissioner’s Office approved the transaction, officially making Munzon the fourth top overall pick to walk away from the Dyip following Christian Standhardinger, CJ Perez and Roosevelt Adams.
Standhardinger was the franchise player the Dyip never had as the franchise, then known as KIA, traded him to San Miguel Beer for Ronald Tubid, Jay-R Reyes, Rashawn McCarthy and 2019 first-round picks that are no longer in its possession.
Tubid, who is now the team manager of Terrafirma, and Reyes are already retired while McCarthy is now playing for Blackwater.
Standhardinger, for his part, emerged as a solid force to be reckoned with and is now terrorizing the paint for Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in its Commissioner’s Cup finals showdown against Bay Area.
Two years ago, Perez and Adams were released by the Dyip.
Perez was a two-time scoring champion when Terrafirma traded him to San Miguel Beer for Russell Escoto, Gelo Alolino, Matt Ganuelas-Rosser and 2020 and 2022 first-round picks.
Escoto, Ganuelas-Rosser and first-round pick were gone while Perez blossomed into a star playmaker for the Beermen.
Adams, for his part, was released to pursue a career overseas.
Historically, the franchise drafted a few more first-round picks — Troy Rosario (No. 2 pick in 2015), Joseph Eriobu (No. 4 pick in 2016) and Jeremiah Gray (No. 2 pick in 2022).
Rosario was selected on Draft Day by Mahindra, then the brand name being carried by Terrafirma, but was shipped to TNT Tropang Giga in a three-way trade that also involved NLEX.
The 6-foot-7 Rosario ended up with TNT while Mahindra received KG Canaleta and Aldrech Ramos and NLEX received Kevin Alas and Rob Reyes.
Eriobu played for Mahindra but was shipped on 2 February 2017 to Phoenix before winding up playing for Blackwater.
Gray, an athletic 6-foot-5 Filipino-American swingman who caught the fancy of basketball fans while playing for Mighty Sports in major invitational international tournaments, entered the PBA by first seeing action in the 3×3 tournament for TNT, but suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
He was picked in last year’s draft by Terrafirma, but was shipped to Ginebra for Javi Gomez de Liano, selected No. 7 overall in the draft, and guard Brian Enriquez.
Two of the three players from the Gilas special draft were also no longer in possession of Terrafirma — Jordan Heading and Escoto.
Only Isaac Go, a 6-foot-7 center from Ateneo de Manila University, but is recovering from a knee injury, remains with the Dyip.
