Chris McCullough will not return to San Miguel Beer for the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup.
Beermen team team manager Gee Abanilla told Daily Tribune that the 28-year-old McCullough could not secure a release from the Formosa Taishin Dreamers in the Taiwan’s P League+, prompting them to look for other prospects for the season-ending conference starting 15 October.
“Although there’s an opt-out clause in his contract, he wasn’t given a release,” Abanilla said in a telephone conversation.
“We want a guarantee that he will play for us.”
Listed at 6-foot-10, McCullough burst into the league as a talented, do-it-all player who led the Beermen to the 2019 Commissioner’s Cup title against fellow National Basketball Association veteran Terrence Jones and the TNT Tropang Giga.
The Beermen have been wooing him to play for them for the East Asia Super League Champions Week but he turned down the short-term gig to accept a deal with the Dreamers in Taiwan.
McCullough underwent surgery after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament last year, but he returned to the Dreamers to play eight more games in which he averaged 18.8 points, 12.5 rebounds and a league-best 2.3 steals per game.
The Dreamers hold the playing rights of McCullough and without securing a release, even though there’s an opt-out clause in his contract, he can be recalled anytime if he signs up with the Beermen.
His case is similar to that of NBA veteran Jonathon Simmons, who led NLEX to a hot start but was recalled by his Chinese squad, the Shanxi Loongs, who hold his playing rights.
Simmons was eventually replaced by Wayne Selden.
Abanilla hopes that the Beermen coaches will finalize their shortlist of prospects any time soon so that they can work on striking a deal.
“There’s a process to be done and that includes asking for approval from the top-level management. I also still have to negotiate with the player they’ve chosen, so even if they’ve decided to get players on the list, there’s no guarantee that they will be able to play right away,” Abanilla said.
“But they need to decide now from the list of players that they have.”
San Miguel is looking to bounce back in the coming Commissioner’s Cup where imports should not be taller than 6-foot-9.
Last year, the Beermen made it all the way to the semifinals but lost to the visiting Bay Area Dragons in four games of their best-of-five series.
