In just its third year in the PBA, Kia Picanto has able to ship its first round pick two times. That’s intriguing for a team which was supposed to be building a future in the pro league.
In 2015, Kia, picking second overall in the Rookie Draft, selected Troy Rosario, who would be shipped in no time at all to the Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters in exchange for then national team standout Aldrech Ramos and versatile forward KG Canaleta.
Many felt Kia’s move was a way of bolstering its squad and make immediate impact.
Ramos and Canaleta are two of the best stretched four forwards in the league, but in just a year, both players were shipped to different teams. The team also did get several quality players in separate deals, including Alex Mallari and Gary David, among others, both of them no longer part of the squad.
Kia also got embroiled in a controversial contractual dispute with its previous members of the coaching staff as well as its other players.
Former coach Glenn Capacio, who served as chief deputy of playing coach Manny Pacquiao when they were tasked to run Kia’s basketball organization, has brought the team to labor arbitration and until now there’s still no settlement reached.
Several players also came out and made it publicly known how they were shabbily treated by the basketball management.
For nine conferences, Kia competed with a team made up of bunch of discards as management preferred to unload key players and instead used hardly-known talents for a cheaper price. If the PBA is looking out at teams not to exceed its salary cap, then perhaps it’s also worth looking if this squad is complying with the requirements of maintaining a minimum salary cap at the least.
This coming Rookie Draft, Kia is set to pick no. 1, but even before ongoing PBA season comes to an end, the team had already agreed to deal its top overall choice to the San Miguel Beermen, the most dominant team in the PBA.
The trade papers are now in the PBA Commissioner’s Office and Kia Picanto is set to receive players like Jay-R Reyes and Rashawn McCarthy, two frozen talents at the Beermen’s camp and San Miguel’s first round pick, which turns out to be the no. 12 overall. The deal is up for approval of PBA Commissioner Chito Narvasa.
A top overall pick at hand could land Kia either Fil-German Christian Standhardinger or Kiefer Ravena, but the team chose to get an aging front liner, an untested guard and a mystery man set to be revealed on Draft Day.
With its season already ended, Kia is also bound to lose Pacquiao, its biggest draw, who will move out to run a league he created — the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League.
So what’s the future of Kia?
Several board members are already questioning the motives of Kia whether the team is capable of running a team or trying to survive. The board meeting this week will be very crucial not just for the team’s future but also for the future of the league.
One of the reasons why fans are shying away from coming to the games is the quality of teams. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what kind of a squad Kia has right now.
Rey Joble has been a sportswriter covering the PBA games for more than a decade. He is a member of the PBA Press Corps and Philippine Sportswriters Association, the oldest journalism group in the country.
