Rico-Yancy deal seeks Salud OK

MANILA, Philippines - If plans don’t miscarry, Barangay Ginebra will have the frontcourt boost it badly needs in its floundering campaign in the PBA Philippine Cup.

The team, along with B-Meg and Barako Bull, has sent a trade proposal to the PBA Commissioner’s Office yesterday where Ginebra hopes to send center Yancy De Ocampo to Barako Bull for rookie Allein Maliksi.

Barako will then ship De Ocampo to B-Meg for Rico Maierhofer, who in turn will be traded to Ginebra for shooting guard Jimbo Aquino and the Kings’ second round picks in the 2014 and 2015 rookie drafts.

PBA commissioner Chito Salud is expected to act on the proposal today.

“No approval yet,” Salud, referring to the proposed trade, told philstar.com in a text message.

“Wait for my final decision tomorrow (today), then make a comparison between what was proposed and what was approved,” he added.

The move was reportedly an effort by Ginebra to beef up its frontcourt, which is currently composed of rookie Reil Cervantes, and veterans Billy Mamaril, Rico Villanueva and Erik Menk.

The Kings are struggling with a 4-4 card while B-Meg has picked up three straight victories after a shaky start to gain a share of fifth with Meralco at 5-4.

The Energy, for their part, are currently in fourth with a 5-3 card with the Maliksi trade, coming as a big surprise. Maliksi, the first MVP of the PBA D-League, is down with an LCL (Lateral Collateral Ligament).

Meanwhile, Talk n Text is fancied to stay on top as it faces winless Shopinas.com at resumption of action at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

The Tropang Texters show the way with a 6-1 mark, barely ahead of idle Rain or Shine (7-2) and reigning PBA Governor’s Cup titlist Petron Blaze (6-3), making them the solid favorites against the Clickers (0-9) in the 5:15 p.m. encounter.

The Powerade Tigers and Meralco Bolts, currently with 3-5 and 5-4 records, respectively, clash at 7:30 p.m. – With report from Alder Almo/Contributor