THE Philippine Basketball Association’s (PBA) trade committee will decide on the proposed controversial transfer of franchise material CJ Perez from Terrafirma to San Miguel Beer, league commissioner Willie Marcial said on Sunday.
“I will just wait for the decision of the trade committee,” Marcial said. “I’ll honor its recommendation, and I never decided on any trade ever since [I became commissioner].”
The trade committee is composed of league technical consultant Joey Guanio, deputy commissioner Erik Castro, legal counsel Atty. Melvin Mendoza and technical officials Rosc Teotico and Junior Bengua.
Terrafirma team governor Bobby Rosales disclosed before the weekend that they are trading Perez, the Dyip’s scoring leader last season and 2019 Rookie of the Year, for swingman Matt Rosser-Ganuelas, playmaker Gelo Alolino and forward-center Russel Escoto and San Miguel Beer’s No. 8 overall pick in the upcoming Rookie Draft.
The impending trade has the makings of a similarly controversial deal in 2017 when Terrafirma, then known as Kia, traded its No. 1 pick, Christian Standhardinger, also to San Miguel Beer in exchange for Jay-R Reyes, Rashawn McCarthy and Ronald Tubid plus a 2019 first-round pick.
That trade courted controversy among the team owners and governors and pressured Chito Narvasa to resign as commissioner.
Rain or Shine co-team owner Raymond Yu said he is keenly interested on how the trade would turn out.
“I trust that the PBA to decide on the basis of what is good for the league as a whole,” said Yu. “But you cannot stop owners from doing something to improve their teams.”
Perez registered league-leading 24.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists averages in 11 games for Terrafirma, which finished with a dismal 1-9 won-lost card in the Philippine Cup last year. He has been a national team member since 2019.
NLEX Head Coach Yeng Guiao, meanwhile, said the league “should do the right thing in dealing with the situation by being sensitive to its audience—the public.”
“Our audience should be satisfied with the decision of the PBA regarding the trade,” he said.
San Miguel Beer management remained mum on the trade.
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