By Adrian Stewart Co

Jaymar “CJ” Perez is now officially a member of the San Miguel Beermen (SMB) after the PBA Commissioner’s Office yesterday approved his controversial transfer from the TerraFirma Dyip.

Based on revised trade, the Beermen has added its 2022 first round draft pick to its initial offer of 2021 first round pick and reserve players Angelo Alolino, Russel Escoto and Matthew Ganuelas-Rosser.

Dyip board of governor Bobby Rosales justified the obviously one-sided trade favoring the Beermen saying that the prospect of getting two first-round picks in the upcoming draft forced them to let go of Perez.

“He’s really a good player. Ang hirap bitawan ni CJ,” Rosales said. “Pero we’ve all been saying na hindi kumpleto ‘yung piyesa ng team so we thought also that having two picks in the first round (of 2021 PBA Rookie Draft).”

“Having the No. 1 and No. 8 would give us a better chance of getting the better talent in this coming draft. And hopefully would be able to hit the pieces also,” added Rosales, who is eyeing Fil-Am Joshua Munzon as their top-overall pick.

“Very obvious naman kung ano ‘yung mga kulang namin. We have the shooters, we have the backcourt. Alam naman natin na kulang kami sa malaki. So that really is the basis of the decision. We wanted two picks in the first round, e,” he further said.

The trade has drawn negative reactions not only from the PBA fans but also from some other team officials, prompting the Dyip and the Beermen to rework the trade by including some veteran players.

TerraFirma’s move was also questioned as Perez served as the team’s leading performer with his averages of 21.7 points. 7.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.9 steals during the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup.

Alolino, on the other hand, averaged 2.2 points in five games played for the Beermen last year, while Escoto, who is a former Dyip player, averaged 1.82 points and 2.91 boards in 11 games. Ganuelas-Rosser did not play for SMB in the PBA bubble./ASC, WDJ