Immigration paperwork delays Slaughter’s PBA D-League debut

After the PBA Developmental League line-ups were released, everyone noticed a giant omission. Greg Slaughter, the 7-foot Fil-Am fresh off two UAAP titles with the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles, was not on the roster of the NLEX Road Warriors. “Greg is still in the US to get all of his papers in order,” explained Charlie Dy, Slaughter’s agent. “Even if he has been playing in the Philippines for eight years and even if he also played with the national team, Greg needs to undergo the same process that all other Fil-Ams go through.” Slaughter is currently in Virginia, but he will be back in the Philippines by Friday to have his papers processed by the Bureau of Immigration. “Greg needed to go to the States to have his birth certificate authenticated by the Philippine Consulate there,” Dy said.   The NLEX Road Warriors submitted a stacked line-up composed of current and former collegiate stars. They have FEU’s RR Garcia, Ateneo’s Nico Salva, Kirk Long, and Oping Sumalinog, Letran’s Kevin Alas, San Sebastian’s Ian Sangalang and Ronald Pascual, Adamson’s Eric Camson, and San Beda’s Baser Amer, Borgie Hermida, Garvo Lanete, and Jake Pascual. They also signed up Matt Rosser, a Fil-Am guard who suited up for Smart-Gilas 2.0 in the Jones Cup and the FIBA-Asia Stankovic Cup. The Road Warriors will debut on October 30 against Erase Xfoliant but they will still be without Slaughter in that game. “It will take at least two weeks to process Greg’s papers,” Dy said. The two-time UAAP Mythical Five member might be able to suit up against JRU on November 13 or against Informatics of November 20. Slaughter is tabbed to be one of the first three picks in the 2013 PBA Draft and he is out to use the D-League to increase his stock. This early into the season, PBA teams have already angled into getting high draft picks for next year’s draft for a shot at getting Slaughter. Ginebra traded away Nino Canaleta and John Wilson to get Air21’s first round pick while the San Mig Coffee Mixers gave away Josh Urbiztondo to Barako Bull in exchange for the rights to GlobalPort’s first round pick, which was in the latter's possession. - AMD/HS, GMA News