THOUGHTS | TANKING IS A TREND

The NBA has this thing where teams mess up their core by tanking. The Chicago Bulls are early culprits. Yeah, they messed up with the Coby White trade, but they still have a bunch of expiring contracts and second-round picks as hauls. And what about the Utah Jazz, who benched their star players in the fourth quarter against the Miami Heat a couple of days ago, even though the game was still winnable? And the worst thing about it is that they won!

So in terms of tanking, a lot of teams are doing it.

But I guess this also transcends leagues.

In the PBA, we have four candidates for the top pick spot, with Terrafirma and Blackwater as the obvious choices, and Phoenix and Titan Ultra looking to upstage their contemporaries.

But the thing about Phoenix is that they have a new coach in Charles Tiu, and they actually have great pieces on their roster. Jason Perkins, Kai Ballungay, Ricci Rivero, Tyler Tio, and rookie Will Gozum are solid pieces, even if the Fuel Masters have decided to rid themselves of their old players.

As for Blackwater, you might say they are tanking as well, but I think it’s just a case of insufficient talent. If they are able to latch onto a good frontcourt import, then they can still have Sedrick Barefield, Christian David, and Dalph Panopio do their thing.

And if we’re leaning toward the Terrafirma Dyip, I also beg to disagree. They just signed Geo Chiu in the middle of the season, which makes a guy like Kemark Carino expendable. They also have Shawn Umali to share key forward roles with Jerrick Ahanmisi, Paolo Hernandez, Maverick Ahanmisi, Louie Sangalang, Mark Nonoy, Brent Paraiso, and Aljon Mariano still doing their thing. I may dog on Terrafirma, but the roster they have at the moment can be developed with the right system.

So this leaves us with Titan Ultra. I think this team has “Tank City” written all over them at the moment, and it’s not really a bad thing if this becomes a trend. They traded Calvin Abueva to Converge, as well as the rights to Dave Ildefonso. While Abueva was almost the Philippine Cup BPC based on his numbers, he is also a 38-year-old player with a polarizing history.

Depending on how bad the other teams are, Titan Ultra has a fighting chance to at least get a Top 3 pick in the 2027 PBA Draft. Plus, they also have Converge’s first-round pick. The worst thing the Giant Risers can do is trade Joshua Munzon to an SMC squad, as their first-round picks are pretty much glorified second-rounders at this point.

Also, I don’t know if they are going to trade Munzon or build a team around him.

For me, it’s a no-brainer. As if Titan Ultra has options other than Munzon.

That said, Munzon has proven that he can be a top guy.

I’m on the fence about tanking. For one thing, San Antonio has done this three times in its history, and that move gave them David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Victor Wembanyama, and a championship dynasty. On the other hand, we have a team like the Philadelphia 76ers, which only has Joel Embiid to show for it without any championships to boast.

In the PBA, Converge successfully went from cellar dwellers to contenders when they were able to land Justine Baltazar. Again, it would be difficult for Titan Ultra to get the top spot, but they have certainly freed up their budget with the Abueva move.

So either they get something from the draft or, for some insane reason, get something even better in the offseason.