MANILA — The rehashed Poy Erram trade remains classified “pending” as the Philippine Basketball Association has yet to announce the approval of the said swap as of posting.
But with Blackwater signing up Paul Desiderio and Abu Tratter, the two first round picks NLEX gave up for Erram, on Thursday, the trade can now be considered as good to go.
Desiderio and Tratter inked their first PBA contracts, making them officially part of the Elite.
It was then revealed that both rookies signed three-year maximum salary deals with the Ever Bilena franchise.
Initially, both the Road Warriors and the Elite agreed on a straight-up deal that will see Erram, Desiderio, and Tratter swapping kits.
However, the commissioner’s office asked both teams to revise the swap, paving the way for TNT to join the fray.
The Erram-for-Desiderio-and-Tratter trade remains the masterpiece of the swap, but now, the Road Warriors will also send Mike Miranda to the KaTropa for Papot Paredes using the Elite as the conduit.
Blackwater will give up a 2021 second rounder to TNT due to the Paredes trade, but the latter will relinquish a future second round pick back to the former thanks to the Miranda swap.
On the other hand, Desiderio’s fellow UP and Batang Gilas alumnus Diego Dario, the Elite’s third round pick, inked a one-year contract to formalize the reunion with him.
“We are excited kasi everybody’s been signed up before the year ends,” said Blackwater team manager Joel Co in a statement. “Yung nararamdaman [nila] sigurado super saya dahil part na sila ng family ng Blackwater.”