Asian invasion! PBA teams allowed to hire Asian imports for Governors’ Cup

The Philippine Basketball Association’s attempt to gain better footing in the Asian region took a huge step forward as the PBA Board of Governors approved the plan to allow all 12 teams to hire an import from the Asian region during the third conference of the league’s 40th season.

“This is clearly experimental on the part of the PBA, with the end in view of maximizing the marketing value of the PBA, not just within the country, but within the region,” said PBA Commissioner Chito Salud after a PBA Board Meeting.

PBA chairman Pato Gregorio originally suggested this idea during the planning for the PBA’s 40th Season in Korea last month.

However, hopes of seeing the likes of Hamed Haddadi, Samad Nikkah Bahrami, Fadi El-Khatib, and Tseng Wen-Ting were quickly squashed as the PBA will only allow Asian reinforcements standing 6-foot-3 and below.

These players would also need to be natural-born players from their country of origin and must have met  FIBA eligibility rules, in case the Asian player has dual citizenship.

Hiring an Asian import is not required for the 12 teams as they will still having their usual Governors’ Cup imports.

The top eight teams from the first two conferences will be allowed to hire imports 6-foot-5 and below while the other four teams will be allowed to get an import with no height limit.

This means popular imports such as Marqus Blakely for Purefoods, Arizona Reid for Rain or Shine, and Paul Harris for Talk ‘N Text will be given the chance to return of their mother teams decide to hire them again.

Popular point guards from the Asia region such as Iran’s Mehdi Kamrani, Jordan’s Wesam Al-Sous, and South Korea’s Kim Min-Goo are possible options to be hired by PBA although logistics and contracts might make this a tough task.