All eyes on point guards

Three six-foot point guards are expected to be picked early in the PBA draft on Sept. 7 with Jason Brickman, Dalph Panopio and Juan Gomez de Liaño considered blue-chippers who’ll make an immediate impact on the league, no matter the teams that land them.

Brickman, 33, is the pick of the lot. Like Caelan Tiongson and Stephen Holt who entered the draft in their 30s, Brickman is an experienced “rookie” with stops in Russia, Germany, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan and the Philippines for ABL and MPBL. His creds are outstanding. Brickman has won championships in high school, Thailand (thrice), Taiwan, ABL and Jones Cup (thrice). He’s been described as another John Stockton.

At Long Island University in NCAA D1, Brickman dazzled the experts with his passing ability and ended his collegiate career joining Bobby Hurley, Chris Corchiani and Ed Cota as the only players to rack up at least 1,000 assists. In his senior season in 2013-14, Brickman averaged 10 points and 11.5 assists to become only the first D1 player to norm double figures in both categories since Avery Johnson in 1987-88. In the Taiwan league in 2023-24, Brickman averaged 17.9 points, 6.3 rebounds and 12.7 assists over 17 games with the Kaohsiung Aquas. He led the league in assists, three-point percentage (.451) and free throw percentage (.865). Brickman would’ve joined the PBA draft years ago but it took time to receive his Philippine passport. Now, it’s all good and he’s ready to strut his wares.

Panopio, 25, was born in Rome to Filipino parents with roots in Batangas and Mindoro. He played in the Italian Serie B and A2 leagues before moving to the US to suit up for South Plains junior college and California State University at Bakersfield. After two seasons at Bakersfield, Panopio went to Korea but a back issue hampered his stay then moved to the Indian league where he averaged 14.9 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.4 assists, shooting .385 from three, with the Mumbai Titans. Panopio has played for the Gilas U18 team and repped the country at the FIBA U19 World Cup in Greece in 2019. He’s more of a scorer than Brickman but both are crack playmakers.

Gomez de Liaño, 25, was the UAAP Rookie of the Year with UP in 2017 and has gone full circle in his basketball journey, playing in Japan, Lithuania and Korea. He was on the Gilas U16 team that qualified for the FIBA U19 World Cup in China in 2017 and also saw action with Gilas at the FIBA Asia Cup and World Cup qualifiers in 2022-23. His brother Javi is now with Magnolia and it’s a perfect time for Gomez de Liaño to set his imprint on the PBA.

There’s another six-foot point guard whom player agent Marvin Espiritu said could be the sleeper in the draft. He’s Gjerard Wilson of NCAA D2 LeMoyne-Owen College in Memphis and UE. At LeMoyne-Owen, he averaged 10.4 points in 81 total games over three seasons. Wilson, 24, didn’t make much noise in UAAP but Espiritu said he could surprise in the pros.