Barangay Ginebra San Miguel is bringing in Othyus Jeffers as import for the PBA Commissioner’s Cup, a prolific reinforcement who had a brief stint in the pro league two seasons ago.
Ginebra mentor Tim Cone made the announcement yesterday, confessing that initially he preferred his imports with former team Star, either Marqus Blakely or Denzel Bowles, but opted to have Jeffers.
“I wish we could have brought in Marqus or Denzel, but Ginebra doesn’t have their rights,” said Cone.
“But we’re happy that we’re able to bring in Othyus Jeffers. The plan is for him to play in both the second and third conferences since he’s only 6-foot-5,” said Cone, adding that he expects Jeffers to be here on Jan. 17.
With the exception of expansion team Mahindra, which can hire an import with unlimited height, the other 11 teams are allowed to have reinforcements with a limit of not taller than 6-foot-9 in the Commissioner’s Cup.
Since the Kings have a ‘Twin Tower’ in 7-foot center Greg Slaughter and 6-10 forward Japeth Aguilar, Cone wants to have another scorer in Jeffers, a veteran of three NBA teams – Utah Jazz, Washington Wizards and San Antonio Spurs in nearly four seasons.
A 6-foot-5 shooting guard, Jeffers played one game for Talk ’N Text in 2014 Commissioner’s Cup where he collected 38 points and 12 rebounds in a 105-99 win against Meralco.
The former NBA D-League MVP was forced to leave the Tropang Texters due to a contract dispute as it revealed that he was – at that time – still under contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves.