2026 PBA COMMISSIONER'S CUP | IMPORT WATCH | CADY LALANNE

NLEX | CADY LALANNE

LISTED | 6’10 – 247LBS

YEAR OF BIRTH | 1992

COLLEGE | UMASS MINUTEMEN

NBA DRAFT | 2015 | RD 2 – PICK 55 – SAN ANTONIO SPURS 

NBA G-LEAGUE | AUSTIN  

PBA EXPERIENCE | MERALCO BOLTS, NLEX ROAD WARRIORS

ASIA EXPERIENCE | ZHEJIANG GOLDEN BULLS (CHINA), CHANGWON LG SAKERS (KOREA), SUWON KT SONICBOOM (KOREA), KUWAIT SC (KUWAIT), ANYANG JKJ RED BOOSTERS (KOREA), BUSAN KCC EGIS (KOREA), SAGESSE SC (LEBANON), KAOHSIUNG AQUAS (TAIWAN)  

Cady Lalanne was once, upon a time, a player who seemed destined for an NBA career.

Unfortunately for him, the closest he got to playing in the biggest league in the world was a stint with the Austin Spurs.

That said, he found success as a continental basketball mercenary in Asia, seeing action from the Middle East to the Far East, and now he has set his sights on the PBA.

So I guess one of the reasons the PBA hasn’t secured his services before is the league’s fluctuating height limit. At 6’10”, he’s either too tall to play because of the ceiling, or by the time the Commissioner’s Cup is about to get underway, he may have already accepted other deals, since his team wouldn’t know if he was eligible to play in the league.

This isn’t the fault of either side, especially during the early 2020s at the height of the pandemic. Of course, the PBA also needed to evaluate how bigger imports would affect the locals’ gameplay. As it stands, unlimited-height imports offer better opportunities to elevate the skills of our big men, especially since we regularly compete in international leagues like the EASL, where Lalanne first got a taste of PBA-level competition thanks to his stint with the Meralco Bolts.

Now, the NLEX Road Warriors aren’t the same team they were in previous conferences. Jong Uichico has finally found a formula and assembled a group of players who fit within his system. From where I’m sitting, they are one dominant center away from breaking out—and that’s what Lalanne could be for this team. After more than a decade without a championship, this is NLEX’s chance to show the league that they aren’t just an MVP-backed team by association. They now have the tools to succeed, and they are eager to prove it.

I guess the question we need to ask Lalanne is whether he has what it takes to bring the Road Warriors to the next level and further fuel their climb to the top.