Bobby Ray Parks Jr. may not get to shake hands – even fleetingly – with any of his would-have-been Blackwater Elite teammates.
Three teams are hammering out details of a trade that will have the rookie Parks at the center of the deal, sources said Tuesday.
Parks, a 6-foot-4 guard-forward selected second overall by Blackwater during Sunday’s PBA Rookie Draft, is reportedly being shipped by the Elite to the Meralco Bolts – the last team of Jimmy Alapag, Parks’ current coach with ALAB Pilipinas in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) – in exchange for Baser Amer and at least two future picks.
Another source said that once Blackwater obtains Amer, the former San Beda Red Lion would be dealt to TNT KaTropa for Jericho Cruz plus another player – possibly Brian Heruela who the KaTropa received from San Miguel Beer in a separate deal for embattled guard Terrence Romeo.
All trade papers have already been forwarded to PBA commissioner Willie Marcial for approval of a five-man trade committee.
TNT has been looking for a reliable backup to veteran guard Jayson Castro, and Amer seems to be a perfect fit, having blossomed as a steady playmaker for Meralco.
On the other hand, the Bolts would acquire a versatile player in Parks – son of the late seven-time PBA Best Import Bobby Parks – who will form an exciting offense-driven tandem with former Rookie of the Year Chris Newsome.
Although it would cost Meralco a solid player in Amer, the team still loaded at the point guard position with Fil-Am rookie Trevis Jackson expected to fill in the starting spot with backup player Mike Tolomia, Garvo Lanete and Anjo Caram.
It has been a busy off-season so far, for Blackwater.
The trade talks with TNT and Meralco – both under the MVP Group – comes a few days after the Elite consummated a separate deal with NLEX, which also belongs under the MVP umbrella.
Blackwater sent center Poy Erram to NLEX in exchange for rookies Paul Desiderio and Abu Tratter – the fourth and seventh picks in the Draft.
Meantime, Ronald Tubid had his first practice session with San Miguel Tuesday at the Acropolis gym in Quezon City. SMB acquired Tubid in a one-on-one swap with Columbian Dyip for Keith Agovida.
Tubid was part of the package that SMB gave to Columbian for the No. 1 overall pick last year, which the Beermen used to select Filipino-German Christian Standhardinger.
