By REYNALD MAGALLON
Rich just got in the position to go even successful and richer.
Barangay Ginebra has sent the veteran pair of Christian Standhardinger and Stanley Pringle to Terrafirma in exchange for Stephen Holt and vastly improved big man Isaac Go along with a first-round swap pick.
The first round swap pick, however, drew harsh criticism from almost everybody.
The league announced the blockbuster trade on Saturday, July 13 – a day before the Season 49 PBA Rookie Draft where the Kings are now selecting 3rd overall and the Dyip taking their turn at the 10th.
More than the acquisition of Holt and Go, however, the first-round pick swap raised eyebrows as the Kings, already brimming with talent, are now on track to get one this year’s draft top talents.
Guys like Justine Baltazar, Sedrick Barefield and Kai Ballungay projected to land in the Top 3.
Ginebra head coach Tim Cone explained that the move was for the Kings to get a hand on younger players while also granting the wish of 6-foot-9 big man Christian Standhardinger.
Cone and Standhardinger reportedly got into a feud a couple of months back with the Fil-German expressing his interest to move on from Ginebra and play under a different coach.
“On our part, we felt we needed to get younger and for Christian, he had stated to us a conference ago that he would prefer to play in a different system and under a different coach,” revealed the veteran mentor,” said Cone in a message.
On his social medial account, Standhardinger emphasized that he was committed to finish his contract with Ginebra but can’t do anything, adding he got a call from Cone informing of the trade.
“Again, I respect the decision and I understand the business side of the sport,” said Standhardinger.
With Holt, Ginebra got some stability in the backcourt while Go should provide the size that Ginebra missed after letting go of Standhardinger while also adding another dimension to the Kings frontline with his three-point shooting.
That should also bode well for the Kings who continue to deal with slew of injuries with Scottie Thompson still having no timetable for return and Jamie Malonzo expected to still miss the season-opening Governors’ Cup.
Jeremiah Grey on the other hand is expected to be with the team midway through the eliminations.
For the part of Terrafirma,it has now completely broken up the core of the team that made a breakthrough run in last season’s Philippine Cup when they reached the quarterfinals and came one game shy of making it to the semis.
Standhardinger, Ginebra’s leading scorer last conference, should give the Dyip the size and heft on the front court, providing much needed scoring punch along with Juami Tiongson especially following the departure of Holt, Go and Javi Gomez de Liano who decided to get his overseas career another shot after signing with a KBL team.
Pringle, meanwhile, should still be able to put up good numbers for Terrafirma when healthy on top of the veteran smarts and leadership.
