MANILA, Philippines - Dahil sa PBA expansion ay mapipilitan ang San Mig Coffee na basagin ang kanilang grand slam champion roster para sa dispersal draft na isasagawa ng PBA para sa Team Kia at Blackwater Sports sa Hulyo 18.
Ngunit pananatilihin ni coach Tim Cone ang kanyang core group na pinamumunuan nina James Yap, Marc Pingris, Joe Devance, PJ Simon at Mark Barroca.
Pakakawalan naman nila sina reserves JR Cawaling, Ken Bono at Lester Alvarez.
Kailangan ni Cone na magdesisyon kung sino ang kanyang isasama sa “protect list” sa Lunes dahil ang bawat koponan ay lilimitahan sa 12 regulars at dalawang reserves para sa susunod na season.
Ang sobra nilang mga players ang ilalatag para sa dalawang expansion teams.
“That’s the toughest thing now,” sabi ni Cone.
Ang iba pang players na nasa San Mig camp sa ngayon ay sina Ian Sangalang, Justin Melton, Alex Mallari, Rafi Reavis, Allein Maliksi, Ronnie Matias, Jerwin Gaco, Yousef Taha at Isaac Holstein.
“It’s tough to decide who’s gonna go to the dispersal draft. We have a beautiful core players and we have guys who didn’t get to suit up but they come everyday and do their job day in and day out with no fanfare,” wika ni Cone.
“But somehow, we have to make a decision. I don’t know how it’s gonna work but that’s the tough part of this expansion thing,” dagdag pa nito.