By ADRIAN STEWART CO
Negrense cagers Justin Chua, Paul Varilla and Raul Soyud are set to play for new teams ahead of the 2022-2023 PBA Governors’ Cup, which will open this Sunday, January 22, at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.
The Bacolod City-native Chua and Negros Occidental’s Manapla-native Varilla are to be shipped by the Road Warriors to the Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters for Sean Anthony and Elvin Jake Pascual.
The Fuel Masters then quickly shipped Chua and Varilla to the Tropang Giga for Negros Occidental’s La Carlota City-native Soyud, Rodolfo Alejandro, Jr. and two future second-round picks.
The three-team, six-player trade has been submitted to the PBA Commissioner’s Office on Tuesday afternoon, January 17, and is currently awaiting the league’s approval to push through or possible revision.
If approved, this will be the 33-year-old Chua’s second tour of duty with the Tropang Giga franchise after a forgetful stint in 2017 that led him to be traded to the Fuel Masters the same year.
Chua, a former standout of Trinity Christian School, had his best years as a PBA player with the Fuel Masters, where he became a candidate for Most Improved Player, before being traded to NLEX in 2021.
Chua and Varilla will be the second and third Western Visayas-based players on the current Tropang Giga roster, aside from Bacolodnon point guard Kirell Brandon “Kib” Montalbo.
Just like Chua, Anthony is also set for homecoming at the Road Warriors as he played for the franchise from 2015 to 2017, while Pascual is set to reunite with former college coach Frankie Lim at NLEX.
On the other hand, the Fuel Masters got an upgrade in their frontcourt with the acquisition of Soyud and also added depth to their guard rotation with experienced Alejandro, who will reunite with his former coach Jamike Jarin.
Soyud arrived at the Tropang Giga prior to the just-concluded Commissioner’s Cup following a stellar campaign with the Road Warriors.
However, the Negrense just appeared in three games with TNT and never blossomed./ASC, WDJ