MANILA – NLEX Road Warriors coach Yeng Guiao on Monday said the team is looking to stay intact for now ahead of the upcoming Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) season.
He said the team is not keen on doing a trade right now involving its current players.
"Ayaw namin i-entertain muna (We do not want to entertain the trade offers for now)," Guiao said.
The Road Warriors are fresh from re-signing the core of their roster last year, especially maximum salary extensions to explosive guards Kiefer Ravena and Kevin Alas.
With essentially its main men back for another year, it may seem like their first round picks could be up for grabs in swaps.
But even those picks will not be traded according to Guiao, who also serves as their team manager.
"Malabo yun. Hindi natin bibitawan [ang mga] first round picks natin. Gusto kong i-preserve yung number three and number four picks namin (The chances of us trading our picks are bleak. we will not let go of our first round picks. I want to preserve our number three and number four picks)," he further said.
NLEX has the third overall pick in the regular draft as a result of a trade with Blackwater, the original owner of that pick, and TNT that brought former star center Poy Erram to the Tropang Giga camp.
The Road Warriors have the fourth pick as their own.
Guiao earlier said that he is keen on taking a big man with the third pick and the best player available for number four.
But with some draft aspirants, primarily the Fil-foreign players, still fixing the needed documents to formalize their entry to the draft, he is keeping mum on who the team is actually eyeing in the first round.
"After lumabas ng final list (Once the final list has been released), we'll make a decision. It's useless to decide if marami pang (if there are still many) uncertainties," Guiao said. (PNA)
