PBA: Gary David sent to recharge Meralco while Chris Ross reunites with Sol Mercado at GlobalPort

The Meralco Bolts have landed Gilas Pilipinas gunner Gary David, along with rookie AJ Mandani, in a trade with the GlobalPort Batang Pier, who obtain point guards Chris Ross and Chris Timberlake in exchange, the PBA confirmed Friday, via their official Twitter account.

#PBA approved trades as of October 11, 2013: 1.) GlobalPort Batang Pier acquired the rights to Chris Ross, (cont) http://t.co/HBzvujmadB

— pbaconnect (@pbaconnect) October 11, 2013

In addition to the player movement, GlobalPort also gets two second-round picks, in 2016 and 2017, from Meralco.

The move brings David over to a contending team, one that made it to the postseason in each of this season's conferences, as compared to GlobalPort which made only 1-of-3. He normed just 18.77 points, 3.35 rebounds and 1.26 assists this season, down from his Powerade Tigerella campaign numbers of 25.84 points, 3.80 rebounds and 2.29 assists.

Mandani on the other hand was the 14th overall pick in the 2012 PBA Draft, but he saw erratic playing time, en route to averages of 5.07 points, 2.14 rebounds and 1.76 assists. He'll likely back up another recent trade acquisition for the Bolts, Mike Cortez, who took over the starting role at Meralco.

It is likely for that reason that the Bolts are moving on from Ross. He posted 5.21 points, 4.19 rebounds, 6.60 assists and 1.71 steals overall this season, but his numbers took a dive in the Governors' Cup, when Meralco acquired Cortez. He'll be reunited though with his former Meralco backcourt partner Sol Mercado, and he could be a better distributor for the likes of Jay Washington, and Willie Miller.

Chris Timberlake on the other hand will likely stay as Ross' back-up. In that capacity this season, he normed 2.13 points, 1.60 rebounds and 1.40 assists. - AMD, GMA News