THOUGHTS | CONVERGE'S TIME IS NOW

I’ve been critical of Mikey Williams, but only because he keeps saying he wants to return to the PBA, and then suddenly finds a reason not to play. He had a chance to resurrect his career a few conferences back when he was traded to the Converge FiberXers for Jordan Heading.

Still, in typical Mikey Williams fashion, things fell apart again because of another excuse.

Now, though, he has signed a one-year contract, and that changes everything. My previous criticisms of Mikey primarily focused on his off-court activities. If he’s finally expected to suit up and actually play, then that’s a different story. I expect the FiberXers to go all-out against their opponents. Even with the loss of Schonny Winston, Converge still looks like a superb squad. Williams can easily take over the sets that were designed for Winston — and probably give them even more.

While many see Jonnel Policarpio as the main prize in the three-team trade, people shouldn’t forget that Delta Pineda knows how to maximize Kurt Reyson. Reyson, a former Letran Knight, was part of the Pampanga Giant Dragons squad that won back-to-back MPBL titles alongside Justin Baltazar, Archie Concepcion, Ronan Santos, and MJ Garcia. They also had John Lloyd Clemente during the first championship run, and Larry Muyang and Jaymo Eguilos in the second. In many ways, Converge feels like an elevated version of that MPBL core — similar to how Tanduay lifted its players when the franchise joined the league in 1999.

Now add former Dallas and New Orleans center Kylor Kelley to the mix, along with Justin Arana, Calvin Abueva, Alec Stockton, and Juan Gomez de Liano, and you’ve got a roster that can truly challenge the top teams.

That said, Converge’s biggest problem is actually a good one: they simply need to follow the blueprint that Leo Austria has implemented in San Miguel. Delta Pineda needs to manage and massage the egos of his core. If there’s one coach who can do that, I think it’s Pineda. More than being a tactician who draws up complex plays, his real strength lies in building the right environment — surrounding himself with the best basketball minds and assembling the best possible roster.

Because here’s the reality — over the years, we’ve seen powerhouse teams on paper rise and fall quickly, going from god-tier to major disappointments.

Converge has suddenly become a cheat-code type of team. It looks like they’re operating on at least a three-year win-now plan.

Again, I can’t stress this enough: it feels like the PBA has been dialing back the SMC side a bit in an effort to help the league regain its fans. SMC surely knows this, and I think the fans are starting to notice what’s happening.

Ginebra’s bench isn’t as loaded as it used to be. San Miguel’s depth is still decent, but they might also be the oldest team in the league right now. As for Magnolia, it seems like they’re the SMC team being positioned for a boost, especially considering their last championship came in the 2018 PBA Governors’ Cup.

On the MVP side, TNT remains the team to beat. However, they’re clearly trying to strengthen Meralco and, most notably, the NLEX Road Warriors. At the moment, those teams are competitive — but not yet in the same way San Miguel, Ginebra, and Magnolia traditionally have been.

The fans have been waiting for a team that can finally shatter the glass ceiling — by any means necessary. And if that means Converge has to follow the blueprint of the two major blocs just to truly contend, then so be it.

But if they can’t win with this lineup — potentially becoming the first non-SMC and non-MVP-backed team to capture a title since Rain or Shine more than a decade ago — it’s hard to see this run being sustainable unless they secure the financial backing to keep the core intact.