PBA: Ginebra trades Forrester, Ababou to Barako for draft pick

Shortly after appointing Frankie Lim as its new coach, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel took another step towards a fresher start by trading Dylan Ababou and James Forrester to Barako Bull for the Energy's 2015 first round draft pick.

 

Both players were seldom used by the Gin Kings, who enjoy a long back court rotation consisting of LA Tenorio, Mark Caguioa, Jayjay Helterbrand, Joseph Yeo, Josh Urbiztondo, and Emman Monfort.

 

Ababou, who previously played for Smart Gilas Pilipinas, averaged only 4.8 minutes in five games while Forrester did not see action at all in the Commissioners' Cup.

 

"They will give us outside arsenal and the stability on the defensive end. I know Dylan and James very well because they both played for me," Barako Bull coach Koy Banal told the league's official website about the newest members of his crew.

 

With the trade, Ginebra could score a blue-chip prospect in the talent-rich 2015 rookie draft, which could include Fil-Tongan big man Moala Tautuaa of Cagayan Valley, Hapee's Ray-Ray Parks and Troy Rosario, Jumbo Plastic's Glenn Khobuntin, Ateneo's Chris Newsome, and University of the East's Roi Rumang.

 

After Ginebra's disappointing quarterfinals exit in the mid-season conference under coach Ato Agustin, the team brought changes anew with Lim's appointment as the head coach.

 

Agustin was replaced just after one conference at the helm, and Lim is the fifth Kings mentor in six conferences as the franchise searches for the right chemistry in personnel and coaching system to end their seven-year title drought. —Marisse Panaligan/JST, GMA News