THE DAVE ILDEFONSO SAGA CONTINUES

So that didn’t work.

Haha.

I guess with Titan Ultra’s win over the Meralco Bolts, the PBA felt that giving away the rights to Dave Ildefonso would rob the Giant Risers of a prospect they might need in the future. Now, don’t get me wrong—I love that Calvin Abueva stirred Titan Ultra with an insane 41-point performance. But at the start, they were clunky, and at the end, they were almost robbed of a win.

The team relied on Ato Ular and Jeo Ambohot to compensate for their lack of frontline depth, and it feels like, especially with Sidney Onwubere’s departure to free agency, this is a problem they’ll need to address moving forward. I’m not saying Ildefonso would follow his dad’s footsteps and become a center—because that’s impossible given his size and skill set—but Converge could at least provide more options than what Titan Ultra was trying to accomplish.

It also might be a case of SMC jealousy, because adding Ildefonso to Converge would definitely deal a serious blow to their dominance. As it stands, SMC lost two of their debut games: Ginebra fell to another SMC-man core in Magnolia, and San Miguel was defeated by the NLEX Road Warriors despite the absence of Robert Bolick.

I really think the FiberXers could sweeten the pot if they’re that eager to secure Ildefonso’s services. Perhaps a 2027 first-rounder and Kobe Monje, with the addition of a future second-round pick, Pao Javillonar, or maybe another player like their third-rounder, current Benilde Blazer Tony Ynot. Ynot struggled from the field in his return but still grabbed four rebounds and dished out five assists to add to Letran’s surprisingly dismal win-loss record.

So, what can we say about the Ildefonso-to-Converge trade? Well, if you’re a fan of Dave Ildefonso, you want this to happen. If Titan Ultra can fund his move to the PBA from the Abra Weavers, then we might see him in the PBA by 2028. Meanwhile, Converge could fund his release to instantly insert him into their lineup after the 2025 MPBL season.

But this is in Converge’s hands now. Are they willing to spend more to make this happen? Enough to get the PBA office’s stamp of approval?