Recent trades

The last few weeks have been a busy one in the Philippine Basketball Association for trades with a number of players finding themselves in new homes as the ongoing season hits the homestretch.

The most recent of the player deals consummated came just before the league went on a short holiday break for All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day last weekend.

The swaps involved that of Ray Parks Jr. going to the TNT KaTropa from the Blackwater Elite in exchange for Don Trollano, Anthony Semerad and two future first-round picks.

Also being consummated was that between the Alaska Aces and Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok with All-Star guard Chris Banchero moving to the Hotshots from the Aces in return for role players Robbie Herndon and Rodney Brondial.

Much speculation has been thrown around as to the reasons behind these recent trades — with some saying these served to favor the “bigger” teams — which this space would not attempt to argue with in this piece and leaving for a discussion for another time.

Looking at the merits of the deal, however, I believe that the recent trades completed and approved by the league office were fair and would help all the parties involved.

Parks is definitely a huge loss for Blackwater.

He only played a conference and half for the Elite but it was enough to see the impact his skills set can have.

In his lone full conference with Blackwater in the Commissioner’s Cup, Parks helped the team to a quarterfinal finish and could have easily gone to the semifinals if not for import woes and had breaks in the playoffs went their way.

The finish came on the heels of the team’s dead-last finish in the season-opening Philippine Cup where Parks was not part of as he was still honoring his commitment with Alab Pilipinas in the ASEAN Basketball League.

In the ongoing Governors’ Cup, while the Elite have struggled to a 2-7 record before his departure, Parks still stayed steady, averaging 20.1 points, five rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.6 steals.

Despite this, Parks’ tenure with Blackwater was rendered “suspect” as he only signed a one-year deal with the team after a back-and-forth between the parties.

Was he committed with the Elite for the long term or not? Maybe. Or maybe not.

Given such a situation, I would not blame the Dioceldo Sy-bankrolled team for giving the go-ahead to the deal.

Could the Elite have gotten a better deal than what they received from TNT? Possibly.

But what they received was hardly a token as used properly the assets they got in return could have much impact.

The two future draft picks would go a long way in repositioning themselves for the direction they want to take moving forward. They can use them to draft quality players from the amateur ranks or trade for a player that could have an outright return.

In Trollano and Semerad, too, they have functioning pieces who would not have any trouble finding their place in their system.

Now Parks in TNT has an upside that is very promising.

TNT has been solid in the Governors’ Cup and the addition of Parks gives the KaTropa boosted ammo.

Alaska letting go of Banchero, meanwhile, also has a lot of sense to it considering how things have gone for the Aces in the last few conferences.

They have been competing but not as consistent as they wanted it to be.

New Alaska coach Jeffrey Coach has been pushing for the milk masters to have the “right mix” and trading Banchero, the most tradable player they had, he said, was part of it.

While they lost the leadership and big-game mentality of Banchero in the trade, they, however, further shored up their frontline with Herndon and Brondial.

Herndon has the ability to create shots for himself and his teammates when given the opportunity to play. He is no Calvin Abueva but he make things happen on both ends which should help the Aces moving forward.

Brondial is a tough big man and approaches the game with a no-nonsense attitude, providing added muscle for the Alaska attack.

On the other side, Banchero provides added stability to the Magnolia backcourt, which already has Mark Barroca, Jio Jalalon, Paul Lee and Justin Melton.

It is going to be interesting how coach Chito Victolero will use all the guards at his disposal but it is very reassuring no doubt for the Hotshots to have a guy with the abilities of Banchero in their fold.

With how the competition has shaped up in the PBA, it is little wonder that we get to see trade spurts right the one we have right now.

And the thing about it all, it is seemingly not yet done.