CONVERGE is officially selecting second overall in this Sunday’s PBA Rookie Draft.
The PBA trade committee, upon review, gave the green light on a deal that allowed Converge to send Brian Santos and its first-round pick (eighth overall) to Phoenix in exchange for the Fuel Masters’ No. 2 pick for 2025.
The approved trade gives Converge an opportunity to dip its hand on a rookie pool led by decorated Filipino American guard Jason Brickman, former University of the Philippines star Juan Gomez de Liano, former Batang Gilas standout Dalph Panopio and versatile big men Gio Chiu and Will Gozum.
Terrafirma is set to pick first, the fifth time in seven years the woeful franchise owns the top overall selection.
With the second overall pick, the FiberXers have a chance to potentially select Gomez de Liano, that is, should the Dyip make Brickman the top overall pick of the 2025 rookie class.
The FiberXers are tipped as a rising powerhouse, having built the franchise around their twin towers Justin Araña and last year’s top pick Justine Baltazar, along with cat-quick playmaker Alec Stockton and newly re-signed gunner Schonny Winston.
Converge reached the playoffs in all three conferences in Season 49 but the FiberXers failed to make it past the quarterfinals after losing to the San Miguel Beermen in the Governors’ Cup, the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the Commissioner’s Cup and the Barangay Ginebra Kings in the Philippine Cup.
Still, the FiberXers posted a decent 24-18 cumulative win-loss record this past season, which bodes well for the franchise that aims to crowd PBA elite teams like San Miguel, Ginebra and TNT in the seasons to come.
As for Phoenix, bannering a new coach in Willy Wilson for Season 50, the squad hopes to make use of Santos’ three-point shooting, while looking to add to its roster with the next best available talent when it selects eighth in the first round.
The PBA Rookie Draft is set on Sunday at the SM Mall of Asia Music Hall.
