By Reynald Magallon
Magnolia finally got its hands on a long-coveted big man to boost its aging frontline after acquiring promising forward Zav Lucero from NorthPort in exchange of Jio Jalalon and Abu Tratter.
The trade got the PBA trade committee green light on Monday, July 15 – a day after the 2024 PBA Rookie draft – along with a separate deal also with the Batang Pier but with Barangay Ginebra Kings.
In the second transaction, NorthPort sent big man Ben Adamos to Ginebra for backup Sydney Onwubere.
Adding Lucero, a 6-foot-7 forward who showed promise in his lone conference so far with the Batang Pier, the Hotshots finally injected some young blood to their frontline which had been the Waterloo for the team in the past few conferences.
Magnolia has solely relied on Ian Sangalang to man the paint with 46-year-old Raffy Reavis and seldom-used Russel Escoto serving as back up.
To acquire Lucero however, Magnolia had given up one of its three-headed backcourt in Jalalon who is now expected to provide the veteran presence to a young NorthPort backcourt that also featured sophomores Fran Yu and Brent Paraiso and rookies Dave Ildefonso and Evan Nelle.
Magnolia also had picked Jerom Lastimosa during the draft — in a move seen as somewhat preparation to deal away Jalalon.
The acquisition of Jalalon should also provide firepower to NorthPort which mostly depended on the scoring of Arvin Tolentino.
Making up for the loss of Lucero and in preparation for an extended time without injured starting center JM Calma, NorthPort got Tratter and Onwubere to man the paint.
Adamos, on the other hand, is expected to play back up to a Kings frontline that is trying to fill the huge void left after letting go of Christian Standhardinger.
