Almost two years since the Bay Area Dragons took the league by storm and went straight to the Finals against eventual champion Barangay Ginebra, a new guest team is landing on the PBA shore.

The Hong Kong Eastern.

And with how dominant the Dragons were during their tenure, all eyes are certainly on the new guest team which will make its debut in the opening day double-header of the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City on Wednesday, Nov. 27.

Phoenix is the first to test the mettle of Hong Kong in the main event at 7:30 p.m. as the clash between the rebuilding Terrafirma and a retooled Converge setting up the table in the first offering at 5 p.m.

Safe to say, Eastern will be under the microscope in their first game especially with teams and fans interested to see whether they will be able to live up to the expectations set by the Dragons for a "guest team".

Hong Kong, which also sees action in the East Asia Super League, certainly has the quality to do so, especially bringing in three key figures from the Bay Area team to their current squad.

Kobey Lam, Hayden Blankley and Glenn Yang all found their way back to the PBA after becoming the central figures in the Dragons’ runners- up finish in the Commissioner’s Cup two seasons ago.

Familiarity to the Filipino brand of play shouldn’t also be a problem for their import in Cameron Clark who already saw action with NLEX and San Miguel Beer in the past.

Out to make up for their 1-9 record in the Governors’ Cup, Phoenix will parade new import Donovan Smith. Historically, the Commissioner’s Cup has been good for the Fuel Masters especially last season where they reached as far as the semifinals behind Best Import Johnathan Williams,

With Tyler Tio now with a conference under his belt since his return from injury, and Jason Perkins and Kenneth Tuffin expected to take their games a notch higher, there’s some sense of optimism that Phoenix can now rise from the ashes of their losing record last conference.

Meanwhile in the opening game, the spotlight will be on the long awaited PBA debut of Jordan Heading as he tries to lead a new-look Converge to a victory against the same team that drafted him in 2021.

Curiously, he never suited up for the Dyip and took his talents elsewhere before the FiberXers landed him as part of a trade deal during the break.

Also making their debuts in new uniforms are Terrafirma’s Terrence Romeo and Vic Manuel who just recently got traded from San Miguel for Juami Tiongson and Andreas Cahilig.