THOUGHTS | NO 2026 PBA DRAFT

Inasmuch as most of my page views involve the PBA Draft, I am okay with the PBA delaying it to January 2027. No offense to most pundits, but I would rather see the young ballers stuck in reserved seats one row from their team’s bench than aimlessly swirling in basketball limbo.

Let me explain.

The UAAP and the NCAA are two separate entities with entirely different visions when it comes to the draft. For the UAAP, aside from the fact that most of their local centers enter the PBA with questionable offensive movesets because their spots have been taken by foreign exchange students (again, I am okay with this if they also get combo guards like Kirk Long), they want their players to finish their education or their outgoing season first before letting them apply for the draft.

Meanwhile, NCAA players are permitted to apply for the PBA Draft even before the new NCAA season begins. The same goes for the MPBL, with their basketball calendar ending in the middle of the PBA season.

Yes, the UAAP players will wait for a year in preparation for the draft while losing the fanfare they got after an awesome final year, but I guess I would rather have this than an NCAA player playing his final year knowing he’s an undrafted PBA rookie who now has to play with both individual and team success in mind just to course-correct his trajectory.

Yes, I am still salty that John Barba wasn’t picked in the 2025 PBA Draft!

And what about the drafted NCAA players? Their endgame was always going to be a PBA contract, and now that they have one, why would they risk injury to play in what is said to be “for school pride and glory”? The thing about these past few seasons from both collegiate leagues is that ever since swapping college colors has become the norm, loyalty has taken a backseat. For draftees in the 24 to 26 age range, entering their mother teams as the 12th or 13th man on the bench, how exactly are they looking at their final college year?

And I guess, for the PBA, this is their way of reorganization. Looking at the 2025 PBA Draft, the only first-rounders that are probably available come the October 5 opening are Juan Gomez de Liano, Dalph Panopio, Chris Koon, and Chris Miller. It gets worse in the second round, with most players either in the NCAA or the MPBL.

And if you think that’s enough, the PBA’s first conference is the all-Filipino one, where the new hires can display their wares before the imports take away their playing time. Last season, the Philippine Cup was the league’s third conference, and it was important to a lot of rookies—particularly the NLEX rookies with Xyrus Torres, JB Bahio, and Brandon Ramirez averaging in double digits, along with Phoenix's Kai Ballungay, Meralco's CJ Cansino, Terrafirma's Mark Nonoy, Magnolia's Peter Alfaro, and Converge's MJ Garcia also stepping up.

I think it’s almost automatic that it will be harder for rookies to finish the season in double figures in this scenario.

And what about the PBA calendar? I know most international leagues stop their seasons during FIBA windows, but a team has the right to prohibit their players from participating if they see the situation as detrimental to their championship hopes. We are seeing this already with the SEA Games, although the event isn’t as important as other Asian tourneys.

But in the long run, maybe this is a way for the players to assess their options.

The last draft saw a record high in terms of applicants. It was so insane that the PBA Draft Combine may or may not have dampened draft stocks because there were simply too many players to create a major impact. Out of the 122 draft applicants that became 77 drafted players, only 36 were signed to contracts. Among the unfortunate names are the EAC duo of Harvey Pagsanjan and King Gurtiza, Ginebra’s top second-round pick Mario Barasi, Ateneo’s Sean Quitevis, and San Beda’s Joe Celzo—who, like Barba and Gab Cometa, will play NCAA Season 101 in career survival mode.

For UAAP players, maybe it’s right to determine if they are ready to take the plunge after the season. For the NCAA players, maybe playing a season of MPBL action is needed to further their draft stock. That said, players like Clint Escamis, Forthsky Padrigao, Allen Liwag, Nic Cabanero, and Mason Amos could just use this 15-month lull period to link with international teams.

I mean, technically, that’s almost two seasons of action right there.

Get Sydrified.