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| Arvin Tolentino's PBA rights now belong with Magnolia, but he is expected to stay with Seoul SK. KBL (file photo) |
MANILA—The PBA approved a trade involving Arvin Tolentino and William Navarro on Tuesday.
The plot twist: both players are in the KBL.
For the first time since the league allowed its players to join the KBL and Japan B.League, although with certain conditions, the PBA greenlighted a swap involving players spending their careers elsewhere.
Magnolia now owns the PBA rights to Tolentino, while Navarro's rights are now with Titan Ultra.
However, neither of the two lengthy forwards is expected to join their new teams come the PBA Governors' Cup.
While Navarro is already a free agent after Busan let him go at the end of the season, he cannot immediately join the Giant Risers as he is covered by a three-year ban the PBA imposed on players who signed with international clubs despite a pending offer from their mother teams.
On the other hand, while Tolentino is not covered by the same ban, he is just one year into a two-season contract with the Seoul SK Knights with a player option for a third year.
As he turned out to be a better fit for Seoul SK instead of former Asian player quota Juan Gomez De Liaño, who is now a top contender for PBA Rookie of the Year with Converge, the club is expected to convince Tolentino, who averaged 11.0 points on 46.3 percent field goals and 38.5 percent on threes and 2.9 rebounds per game this past season, to run it back.
However, it remains to be seen if Magnolia will work on an agreement to acquire Tolentino in time for the Governors' Cup opening on July 10.
On the other hand, the Hotshots made an adjustment to their future second-round pick in the Giant Risers' possession.
Previously given to NorthPort in the Calvin Abueva trade, which was later inherited by Titan Ultra, Magnolia took back the Season 51 pick it gave up in the aforementioned swap.
Instead, Titan Ultra will now have Magnolia's second-rounder for the Season 52 Draft scheduled for 2028.
