By Adrian Stewart Co

San Miguel Beermen’s retooling for the 2021 PBA Philippine Cup slated this April has started after coming to terms with the TerraFirma Dyip for the services of Christian Jaymar “CJ” Perez.

According to a report by Nelson Beltran of The Philippine Star, Perez is headed to the Beermen for three reserve players in Angelo Alolino, Matthew Ganuelas-Rosser and Russell Escoto and SMB’s first round pick for the 2021 PBA Rookie Draft.

The Beermen-Dyip player swap transaction has reportedly been submitted to the PBA Commissioner’s Office on Friday and will still be evaluated by the league’s trade committee.

If approved, the Columbian Autocar Corp. will have three picks in the first round of the draft set on March 14 as it also owns the top overall picks in both the Gilas and regular draft.

Perez’s move to the Beermen’s camp did not come as a surprise as it has long been rumored that he is being eyed to bolster the team after failing to defend its crown in the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup.

Perez, Dyip’s top overall pick during the 2018 PBA Rookie Draft, averaged a league-high 24.36 points to go along with 6.82 rebounds, 4.27 assists, and 2.0 steals per game last season.

The efforts of the Pangasinan-native led him to a runner-up finish in the 2020 Best Player of the Conference race and also being part of the Mythical team despite Dyip not reaching the playoffs round.

Alolino averaged 2.2 points in five games played for the Beermen last year, while Escoto suited up in 11 games and averaged 1.82 points and 2.91 boards. Ganuelas-Rosser did not play for SMB in the PBA bubble./ASC, WDJ