5 imports banked $15-M in NBA

MANILA, Philippines - Five of the 10 imports set to play in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup starting Feb. 8 earned a combined $15 million (P600 million) as NBA cagers and boast a wealth of major league experience with a total of 379 games for 10 teams, including the Boston Celtics, San Antonio Spurs and the New York Knicks.

Topping the salary list is Petron’s Renaldo Balkman who bankrolled $9.3 million in six NBA seasons with the Knicks and Denver Nuggets. The 6-7 forward was the Knicks’ first round pick in the 2006 NBA draft and never pocketed less than $1 million throughout his major league career. The 28-year-old New Yorker took a career-high $2.1 million during the 2009-10 season with the Nuggets.

Balkman played in 221 total games, averaging 4.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 13.9 minutes while hitting .510 from the floor and .542 from the line. His best scoring season was in 2008-09 when he tallied five points a game for Denver. He started in only 12 outings and posted single-game highs of 22 points, 16 rebounds, four assists, four steals and four blocked shots.

Rain Or Shine’s 7-2 Bruno Sundov (pronounced Shun-Dahv) of Split, Croatia, was the second biggest earner with $4.49 million over seven seasons. Sundov, 32, was the Mavericks’ second round pick in the 1998 NBA draft. He went from Dallas to Indiana to Boston to Cleveland and finally, to New York in a journeyman career. His highest paycheck came in his final NBA season with the Knicks in 2004-05 as he pocketed $870,046 while averaging only 1.2 points in 21 games. 

Sundov played in 102 total games, averaging 1.7 points and shooting .356 from the floor and .526 from the stripe. He logged only 5.1 minutes an outing. If his playing time were extended to 36 minutes, his proportionate averages would be 11.9 points and 7.4 rebounds. Sundov registered career-highs of 17 points on 8-of-14 field goals and nine rebounds in 33 minutes with the Pacers against Orlando in 2001.

Third in the money ladder is Global Port’s Justin Williams who earned $1.12 million in two seasons with the Sacramento Kings and Houston Rockets. The 6-10 center was never drafted in the NBA but played 26 games as a Kings rookie in 2006-07, pocketing $285,145. The next season, he signed a contract for $862,456 to play only 22 contests for Sacramento. Williams, 28, was cut during the campaign and moved to Houston on a 10-day contract that led to just one appearance with the Rockets.

Talk ‘N’ Text’s Keith Benson was chosen by the Atlanta Hawks on the second round in the 2011 NBA draft. Benson, 24, didn’t make the Hawks cut but was signed as a free agent by the Golden State Warriors late last season. The 6-11, 230-pound center played only three games with the Warriors and failed to score a point.  He earned $43,054 for his efforts.

Meralco’s Eric Dawson, 28, was undrafted in the NBA but managed to play four games with the San Antonio Spurs on two 10-day contracts last campaign. The 6-9, 250-pound forward from Midwestern State played five years with the Austin Toros in the NBA D-League. Before moving to the Spurs, he averaged 17.2 points and 10.6 rebounds for Austin to gain Impact Player of the Year honors. 

With the Spurs, Dawson averaged 3.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and 9.8 minutes, hitting .583 from the floor and .500 from the line.  He earned $38,172 for his brief stint.

Three imports â€“ Balkman, Benson and Dawson – are fresh from playing in the NBA just last season. Balkman is the only first round draft pick in the batch while two, Sundov and Benson, were chosen on the second round. The five NBA veterans suited up for Sacramento, Houston, New York, Denver, San Antonio, Golden State, Dallas, Indiana, Boston and Cleveland over 379 combined games in 13 seasons.

Sundov has the most NBA experience with seven seasons but played in less games than Balkman who suited up in six campaigns. Benson and Dawson saw action in only seven games together. Before this conference, there had been only 42 NBA first round draft picks to invade the PBA since 1975 – DerMarr Johnson and Rashad McCants were the most recent to join the cast last season. Other first rounders who played in the PBA include Dickey Simpkins, Scott Burrell, Kenny Payne, John Morton, Sherell Ford, Chris Morris, Johnny Taylor, Mario Bennett, Dennis Hopson, Cedric Ceballos, Ennis Whatley, Wes Matthews, David Thirdkill, Rob Williams, Leon Wood, Kenny Battle, Freeman Williams, George Trapp, Glenn McDonald, Byron Houston and Michael Young.

This conference’s group of imports could be the richest ever in PBA history, considering what five of the 10 earned in the NBA.