Tenorio to Ginebra, Casio to Alaska in blockbuster 5-team trade
After days of speculation, the Alaska Aces finally dealt away star point guard LA Tenorio in a series of complicated trades that shook the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) landscape Friday afternoon.
In an official statement from the league office, PBA Commissioner Chito Salud approved of the trades that also saw the Aces acquire JV Casio and Dondon Hontiveros.
A total of four trades involving five teams took place in a merry-go-round of players. In the first trade, Barangay Ginebra briefly reacquired point guard Willie Miller from Barako Bull in exchange for center Enrico Villanueva. In the second trade, Ginebra then dealt Miller and its 2014 first-round pick to Global Port in exchange for Casio.
The Kings then traded with a third team, Alaska, dealing Casio and their 2015 second-round pick to the Aces in exchange for Tenorio. Finally, Alaska gave up Wesley Gonzales and Hans Thiele to Petron Blaze for Hontiveros.
To summarize who went where at the end of the all the transactions :
- Barako Bull got Villanueva and gave up Miller;
- Ginebra ended up with Tenorio and gave up Villanueva, a 2014 first-round pick, and a 2015 second-round pick;
- Global Port acquired Miller and a 2014 first-round pick and gave up Casio;
- Alaska acquired Hontiveros, Casio and a 2015 second-round pick and gave up Tenorio, Gonzales and Thiele; and
- Petron acquired Gonzales and Thiele and gave up Hontiveros.
In a statement, management of Alaska belied reports that Tenorio's participation in the Jones Cup was the reason he was being traded.
"We have been approached by many teams for LA and they have all been denied because we felt LA was an integral part of our team," Aces team manager Joaqui Trillo said. "However, looking forward, we also see the promise of JV and feel he can bring a lot to Alaska. So we are taking a leap of faith but a calculated one."
"We lent three of our key players to the Jones Cup tournament because we knew it was a big tournament and we are proud of the entire team's accomplishment. But it’s also time that other companies step up their support of the national team as we have been doing so since the mid-90s," team owner Wilfred Steven Uytengsu pointed out. "We believe the FIBA Asia Cup, (formerly known as the Stankovic Cup) in Japan later this month to be of less significance and do not see the need to contribute players.
"Nevertheless, we are making Sonny available for the FIBA Asia Cup on a limited basis. We need to focus on our campaign for the upcoming season given our sub-par performance last season and we need our players to be focused and healthy. I talked to the team about this right after our last game in June and the players committed to making the sacrifices necessary to regain competitiveness. We want a team of players who will live by this commitment.
"We wish LA well and thank him for his leadership while he was wearing an Aces jersey. He will be successful wherever he goes. At the same time, we believe JV can bring a lot of dynamism to our team and has the youth to have a long career with Alaska."
