PBA approves Kramer-Salvador swap after draft pick added

Apparently, all that was missing was a first-round draft pick to spice up the deal.

PBA Commissioner Chito Salud approved on Friday a swap that sends Powerade Tigers undersized center Doug Kramer to Barako Bull in exchange for Jondan Salvador and the Energy's 2012 first round draft pick.

The trade was announced via Twitter, on the league's official account, @pbaconnect:

PBA Approved Trades as of May 4, 2012:1.) BARAKO BULL acquired the rights to Doug Kramer2.) POWERADE TIGERS (cont) tl.gd/h97ttf

— pbaconnect (@pbaconnect) May 4, 2012

The exchange was first submitted to the league office on May 1, but Salud thumbed it down due to its lopsidedness, returning it to the parties in order to have it revised.

All it needed, it seems, was an additional selection in this year's upcoming rookie draft. 

 

The undersized Kramer had a break-out All-Filipino Conference, but saw his minutes diminish in the Commissioner's Cup, but the former Ateneo Blue Eagle still managed 5.6 points and 4.1 rebounds in 16.4 minutes over 10 games. 

 

Salvador, meanwhile, logged just 10 games out of a possible 17 in the last conference, due to various injuries slowing down the former St. Benilde Blazer. He normed 13.8 minutes, producing 4.1 points and 2.7 rebounds in that span.

The Tigers previously shipped out last year's number four draft pick and Best Player of the Conference nominee Marcio Lassiter to the Petron Blaze Boosters, along with Celino Cruz, for a package of Lordy Tugade, Rey Guevarra and Rabeh Al-Hussaini.

Barako Bull, on the other hand, also completed a deal with Petron, sending out Dorian Peña, in exchange for Carlo Sharma and the aforementioned Cruz.

For the Energy, a team that came close to pulling out a huge upset against the 2011 Commissioner's Cup titlists, the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters, in this year's semis, the deals give them a younger, more athletic front court on a club that was nicknamed "Manong Republic" because of their age.

The Tigers, on the other hand, take a gamble on Salvador's history of injuries, and hope that a change of scenery will lead to rejuvenation for Al-Hussaini and Guevarra, the second and third overall picks in the 2010 draft.

Powerade failed to make the post-season of the Commissioner's Cup, falling to the Meralco Bolts in a playoff. — JVP, GMA News