No more trades for top pick starting 2019 after unanimous decision by PBA board

Chris Standhardinger ended up as the number one pick of last year's PBA Draft, which was marred with a last-minute trade for the top pick. Dennis Acosta (file photo)

By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA--The number one pick in the Philippine Basketball Association Draft will not become available for trade starting next year.

The league announced that the top draft pick will become non-tradable come 2019.

"Napag-usapan na yun ng board," said Commissioner Willie Marcial in a statement posted in the PBA website on Friday.

It was also revealed in the statement that the PBA board approved the proposal without any opposition.

The decision came at the heels of the controversial Columbian-San Miguel trade that was approved by Former Commissioner Chito Narvasa last year.

The said swap saw the Dyip giving up their number one pick, which turned out to be Chris Standhardinger, to the Beermen in exchange of the latter's 2019 first rounder, Ronald Tubid, Jay-R Reyes, and Rashawn McCarthy.

[Related Story: On third try, Kia-SMB trade finally approved]

Despite McCarthy finally getting his groove, Columbian remained a moribund squad this season and is likely to take the number one pick again this year.

While this year's top pick can still be a part of a trade package as the new ruling will just take effect in the 2019 draft, Marcial assured that a swap similar to the Dyip-Beermen deal last year will not happen again.

"Lahat naman ng trade, kailangang dumaan sa committee. Basta dumaan sa committee, tiwala naman tayo na patas yun," Marcial continued, pertaining to the group consisting of the league's legal counsel Melvin Mendoza, technical and operations head Eric Castro, and technical team members Junior Bengua and Roscelle Teotico.

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