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Three rule changes the PBA should consider

Czeasar Dancel/NPPA Images
Czeasar Dancel/NPPA Images

In a span of a month, Talk ‘N Text managed to get Jay Washington, Matt Rosser, and Kevin Alas while keeping their core of Jimmy Alapag, Ryan Reyes, Larry Fonacier, Kelly Williams, Ranidel De Ocampo, and Jayson Castro. After watching the San Mig Super Coffee Mixers of the SMC group win the grand slam, the flagship of Manny V. Pangilinan’s bloc reloaded with two sets of trades that made them better instantly while giving them the youth they could build on for the next few years.

League parity has been an elusive target in the PBA as the rich get richer. PBA Commissioner Chito Salud has tried to introduce steps into helping out the weaker teams such as the handicapping system for imports.

Here are some suggestions that could help the league move closer to creating an even playing field for all.

1.    Edit the conduit system. Players cannot move from one team to a sister team without playing a full conference with a non-sister team.

Rain or Shine refused to be a part of the conduit system. They had no problems trading Kevin Alas for a future pick to NLEX but they had a very big problem with seeing him ending up with Talk ‘N Text. See, Rain or Shine enjoyed two stints to the PBA Finals last season. A much stronger TNT squad will make this much harder for the Elasto Painters.

Blackwater stepped up and became the conduit for Talk ‘N Text and NLEX. The expansion team received Larry Rodriguez and TNT’s first round pick next year (which should be 9th or 10th at best) while giving away their own first round pick (a pick that could land from 1st at best, 4th at worst). The explanation was that they needed to get Rodriguez as they didn’t come to terms with Danny Ildefonso. No one knows for sure why they parted with their own pick.

Blackwater gave up the chance to pick guys like Rayray Parks, Moala Tautaa, Chris Newsome, and even Arnold Van Opstal to get Rodriguez and whomever they could pick late in the first round.

Czeasar Dancel/NPPA Images
Czeasar Dancel/NPPA Images



My suggestion is to make swapping players between sister teams much harder.

How? By changing the rules so as to disallow any player from one team from moving to a sister team without play a full conference with the conduit team.

Instead of reloading on the fly, Talk ‘N Text and NLEX would have to wait for one conference, meaning two adjustment periods instead of one, to get players from their sister teams. It won’t completely eliminate the problem but it would at least make it harder for sister teams to help each other out.

This will also eliminate trades that could happen between an eliminated team with a sister team heading into the playoffs.

If, for example, NLEX bows out in the elimination round on the 2014 Philippine Cup, they only need a conduit to send, again for example, Asi Taulava to Talk ‘N Text to help them out with a championship run.


2.    Draft protection

My suggestion here is that if a team trades its first round pick but still lands in the bottom four after the season, that team retains its pick and gives up its pick for the next year instead.

For example, Blackwater gave away its 2015 first pick to Talk ‘N Text for Rodriguez and TNT’s 2015 first round pick. If the addition of Rodriguez does not help Blackwater get out of the bottom four, they should retain their 2015 first pick to help them get better at the soonest possible time. TNT would get back its own 2015 pick and get Blackwater’s unprotected 2016 pick.

To establish league parity, the PBA needs to help out the weaker teams and although taller imports could be a quick fix, they need long-term solutions. It’s good that the PBA attracted two expansion teams but if these two expansion teams become competitive in the shortest possible time, it would attract even more new teams to invest in the league.


3.    Strike off the obsolete Filipino-foreigner limitation

PBA Chairman Pato Gregorio has hatched a grand plan of making the PBA a better brand in Asia as he wants to introduce Asian reinforcements in the league. Although they are not yet sure how to go about it, Gregorio feels that adding Asian reinforcements along with imports in the Governors’ Cup will make competition better.

I have nothing against the idea. However, it’s difficult for me to understand how we could welcome Asian players while still having limitations on half and/or foreign-born Filipinos of five per team.

TNT’s Rob Reyes is considered a Fil-Am. His first-born son is also considered a Fil-Am but his youngest son, who was born here, will be considered a local if he plays in the PBA.

It’s confusing, right?

The age of the foreign invasion is done. Fil-shams are done. Fifteen years ago, any player in the draft with a foreign sounding name was sure to get picked because the league was so enamored with them but that’s not the case anymore.

The level of local talent has risen. Fil-Ams are no longer considered better than homegrown talent just by being Fil-Ams. There have been a lot of foreign-born players who didn’t even make it through the draft and there are a lot of them who are quickly falling by the wayside after just a few seasons in the PBA.

We naturalized Andray Blatche and Marcus Douthit to help us with our basketball but we still somehow see it important to limit Fil-foreigners to just six per team.

Filipinos are Filipinos. It would be best not to penalize them for being born in another country or having one part of a different nationality.