Letting go of a prized player and a dear friend is something Sta. Lucia Realty team manager Buddy Encarnado doesn't want to experience again.
That explains why he wants his team to perform well this season.
"Everybody will have to be counted," Encarnado said yesterday, speaking out for the first time about the trade two weeks ago that sent long-time Realtor team captain Dennis Espino to Coca-Cola.
"It was not easy. We have been together for 14 years going on 15, so I really had a hard time making it," he added.
The move, along with an earlier trade that sent Denok Miranda to San Miguel Beer, had to be made, however, to alleviate the team's financial woes. The Realtors are right on the edge of the PBA's maximum salary cap of P32 million per season.
Aside from Espino, also receiving the league's ceiling of P350,000 a month are Marlou Aquino and Kelly Williams while the likes of Paolo Mendoza, Joseph Yeo, Ryan Reyes and Bitoy Omolon are earning close to the league limit. Miranda was reportedly set to receive P220,000 a month this year.
"It was basically about our issues with the salary cap," explained Encarnado, who summarized the deal as a "win-win" situation for the 35-year-old player the team made the top overall pick in the 1995 draft and the Realtors as a whole.
"He will have a new motivation, a new life with Coca-Cola, samantalang kami naman became younger and now have some ease on the financial side," he said.
Encarnado also quashed rumors more Realtors will be traded. "That's it," he stressed. "What I have right now is my team."
He also described the current Realtors as a team "with a new motivation," and the players, led by Williams, has to rise to the challenge he has hurled.
"Everybody must seize the opportunity." Noli Cortez - Malaya Online Edition
PBA (Philippine Basketball Association) Update:
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