By Adrian Stewart Co

Amid trade rumors surrounding Negrense Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) player James Yap, his current team, the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, affirmed he is staying put as they offered the Escalante City native a three-year contract extension.

“James is the face of this franchise and he will continue to remain as the face of this team for the next three years,” said team owner Raymond Yu. “Since we got him in a trade [from the Magnolia Hotshots for Paul Lee], our plans is for James to end his PBA career with us.”

“James, in fact, asked me if we [planned] to trade him but I told him that it is not true,” he added. “I have no idea where the trade rumors came [from] but [they are] not true.”

Meanwhile, team governor, Atty. Mamerto Mondragon, called the contract extension a “no brainer.”

“He’s very hardworking and has really helped the team,” he stated. “We just told him to keep working hard and give his all.”/ADC, WDJ