By REYNALD MAGALLON
It is Ginebra that has won the Troy Rosario sweepstakes.
The former Blackwater forward whose contract expired at the end of the last conference and entered free agency is now officially part of the Kings lineup for the upcoming PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup.
Although no formal announcement was made about Rosario’s signing with Ginebra, the 6-foot-7 stretch four was a prominent addition to Ginebra’s roster list which the league released along with the other team’s lineups on Monday, Nov. 25.
Also part of Ginebra’s lineup is Justin Brownlee who is reprising his role as the Kings import in the conference that featured towering reinforcements after the league lifted its height limit.
It can be recalled that Brownlee, according to Cone, has mulled the possibility of taking a conference off following a grueling stretch of non-stop basketball since his reinstatement last February and ended with a Finals loss to TNT.
Meanwhile, Rosario’s inclusion to Ginebra’s roster finally ended months-long speculation on where the former National University standout is heading after turning down extension offers from the Bossing to become an unrestricted free agent.
Teams like the Governors’ Cup champion TNT as well as Converge, which has been trying to stack up key pieces to bolster its lineup in the offseason, all joined the fray in trying to sign the 32-year-old big man.
With Rosario and Brownlee in tow, Ginebra gets the much-needed boost on the depleted roster that is still expected to be without Jamie Malonzo and Isaac Go.
