Barangay Ginebra San Miguel coach Tim Cone feels that those he described as the “middle teams” stand to benefit from the talent-rich PBA Rookie Draft set March 14.
This year’s draft is expected to be one of the deepest in recent memory with the application of 97 players, most of which carrying impressive credentials from their stints in the collegiate, regional and 3x3 ranks.
For Cone, that should make teams picking in the middle part of the draft order a strong feeling that they’ll be able to get a player who can make an immediate impact.
“I think the draft will really strongly impact the PBA,” Cone said during Monday’s episode of The Game. “I think it’s gonna really impact the middle teams, the teams that are gonna get those draft picks of like three to seven or eight.
Read: Make it three in a row as Terrafirma gets No. 1 pick again
NLEX owns the third and fourth picks in the first round, Rain or Shine is at No. 5 and Phoenix Super LPG, which now has possession of the sixth pick as part of a deal that sent Calvin Abueva to Magnolia.
Alaska is at seventh overall while Terrafirma will pick eighth after acquiring it from San Miguel Beer in the CJ Perez deal.
While Joshua Munzon is being groomed as the No. 1 choice of Terrafirma, plenty can still be available once the aforementioned teams get their turn.
Jamie Malonzo, Calvin Oftana, Mikey Williams, Jason Brickman, Alvin Pasaol and Santi Santillan, to name a few, are among those being groomed as first round selections.
“I think those guys will really impact the PBA and really raise the level of those teams which will make them so much tougher,” Cone said.
“Those teams will really jump, I think, in terms of level of talent. I think they’ll be big forces in this upcoming conference,” added the bench tactician of last season’s Philippine Cup champion.