The Meralco Bolts are dead serious in putting up a formidable squad ahead of the East Asia Super League campaign.
As the country’s lone representative to this prestigious event, the Bolts will have a unique roster of reinforcements composed of Justin Brownlee, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Ismael Romero.
PBA chairman and TNT board governor Ricky Vargas and Meralco head coach Luigi Trillo confirmed this latest development to Pinoystep.com.
“Yes we are (lending Hoillis-Jefferson). He will play in the EASL for Meralco,” wrote Vargas in a Viber message.
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, which holds the rights on the services of Brownlee, and resident TNT import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, will team up for the first time as the long-time import rivals will join forces to bolster the Bolts campaign in the EASL tournament.
Brownlee and Hollis-Jefferson met in epic finals battles three times, all of whom won by the TNT reinforcement.
But while Hollis-Jefferson got Brownlee’s number in their championship matches in the PBA, the Gilas Pilipinas naturalized player was able to put one over his rival in the Asian Games when the Philippines defeated the former NBA star during their gold medal match two years ago.
Meralco, the PBA’s only representative in the tournament, asked for the league’s help in creating a formidable squad, which will allow the team to bring in four reinforcements in the prestigious Asian tournament.
Aside from Brownlee and Hollis-Jefferson, Trillo confirmed that they’ve also secured a deal with Ismael Romero, a 6-foot-9 center/forward who played for the Puerto Rico men’s basketball team in the 2023 FIBA World Cup. Just recently, Meralco team consultant also revealed the possibility of tapping Quentin Millora-Brown, who could become the Bolts’ Asian import in the EASL.
“We really wanted to put up a formidable team. Teams in the EASL have the advantage over us because they’re allowed to have four reinforcements, which they could lock in for a long period of time,” said Trillo. “On the other hand, we could only tap reinforcements on short-term basis, so we decided to ask for the PBA’s help.”
“Not only we’re representing the PBA, but we are representing the Philippines in this tournament and we take pride in doing that.”
