PBA commish Salud approves Marlou trade to Barako, Sunday to SMB

Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) commissioner Atty. Chito Salud approved on Tuesday two revised trade offers made by Meralco, Barako Bull, and San Miguel. The trade was approved after the three teams decided to revise the offers sealed through separate deals. Barako earlier agreed verbally to trade guard Reed Juntilla and forward Mark Isip to Meralco in exchange for rookies Ford Arao and Kazim Mirza and guard Pong Escobal. However, Salud decided to include Bolts veteran center Marlou Aquino and Meralco's 2012 first round draft pick in the deal, while Arao stays with Meralco. Salud also revised the proposed one-on-one trade between San Miguel and Barako that would send Lordy Tugade to the Boosters in exchange for Sunday Salvacion. Salud included rookie Vaughn Canta in the package, with the young forward join Tugade in the Boosters’ fold. “The guys from San Miguel were telling me that Sunday and Lordy is of the same caliber, and I said yes, only if both players are fit," Salud told GMANews.TV. “Lordy has a reputation for being injury-prone the past several years, so I believe it would be logical if we add another player to the package, and San Miguel agreed."

Canta is a 6-foot-3 undrafted rookie picked up by the Beermen this season. “We promised the public during the opening of the league’s 36th season that we will avoid lopsided trades, and that’s what we’re doing right now," said Salud. This is not the first time Salud has made revisions on proposed trades Last September, Salud added a future second round pick to the deal that sent Asi Taulava to the Meralco Bolts in a trade that also involved Rob Reyes, Ken Bono, Jason Misolas and a 2013 second-round pick. Meralco coach Ryan Gregorio said that with Isip and Juntilla, the team now has players that can provide flexibility and spread the floor. “We lost Marlou to Barako, but we have Arao coming back and Isip adding depth to our frontline," said Gregorio. “The good thing about Isip is he can defend the big guys. He may be an undersized forward, but he can shoot from between 12 to 18 feet, which will allow us to spread the floor." “As for Juntilla, he’s a scorer and a flexible player capable of playing the 1-2-3 spots. He can be a good complement to Mac Mac (Cardona) as well as to Taulava’s solid inside game," added Gregorio. Barako Bull coach Junel Baculi said losing three of his key players is tough for the team, but believes he still has enough time to figure out the squad's identity before the start of the second conference. “Sunday, Reed and Mark are three of our leading scorers, so this trade is really tough for us," said Baculi in a telephone interview. “But prior to the start of the tournament, we had no idea exactly who will be our top players, yet we were close to winning games. We will rebuild again, and management assured us that we will stay and advised us to continue competing." - KY, JVP, GMANews.TV