The Philippine Basketball Association expects a huge turnout when it holds its Annual Rookie Draft on 17 September at the Market! Activity Center in Taguig City.
PBA commissioner Willie Marcial said more than 40 players have already submitted their applications with still one week left before the annual draft process.
Terrafirma is set to make the top selection followed by Blackwater at No. 2, Rain or Shine at Nos. 3 and 4, NorthPort at No. 5, Phoenix Super LPG at No. 6, NLEX at No. 7, Meralco at No. 8, Converge at Nos. 9 and 10, NorthPort at No. 11, and Terrafirma at No. 12.
All in all, Terrafirma, Rain or Shine, Converge and NorthPort will be picking twice in the first round while San Miguel Beer, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, Magnolia and TNT Tropang Giga do not have first-round picks.
“The numbers are good,” Marcial told Daily Tribune.
“We expect more waves of applicants as we get closer to Draft Day.”
Expected to lead the draft are Filipino-American big men Keith Datu, Brandon Bates, Lawrence Domingo, Luis Villegas, and Henry Galinato as well as top-tier guards Stephen Holt and Schonny Winston.
Joining the early applicants are wingers Xavier Lucero, Ricci Rivero, Brent Paraiso, Ken Tuffin and Sherwin Concepcion, making this year’s draft one of the deepest in league history.
A 6-foot-8 forward who played for J&T Express and Wilcon Depot in the PBA 3×3, Datu had already submitted his application form as early as last week together with the 6-foot-4 Holt, who is a former NBA G League player and touted as the potential top overall pick in this year’s class.
Bates, a 6-foot-9 center who previously saw action for the Sutherland Sharks in the National Basketball League 1 East Australia, also returned to the country to play for Platinum Karaoke in the 3×3 wars.
Datu and Bates are now ready to take it to the next level as well as the 6-foot-6 Domingo, the former Alab Pilipinas swingman who waited for three years before he could get an opportunity to play in the country’s top professional league.
Meanwhile, Villegas and Galinato had one-and-done campaigns in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines.
The 6-foot-8 Villegas averaged 13.1 points and 8.1 rebounds for University of the East while the 6-foot-6 Galinato played one season for University of the Philippines together with fellow draft applicants Lucero and Rivero.
