Meralco is not changing plans on bringing in Ismael Romero as its import for the coming PBA Commissioner’s Cup on the heels of the reinforcement’s kicking incident involving Nick Demusis of the Zamboanga Valientes in the Dubai International Basketball Tournament.
Team manager Paolo Trillo confirmed the news to Pinoystep.com.
“He regretted his actions and his remorseful on the incident,” said Trillo. “But we’re not changing plans. We’ll be bringing in Ismael Romero as our import for the Commissioner’s Cup.”
Romero has been playing for the Bolts for months, serving as one of the four reinforcements of the squad. He played alongside Asian import Sina Vahedi, a member of the Iranian national squad and hailed as the best point guard in Asia the past two years.
The 6-foot-8, FIBA World Cup veteran who played for Puerto Rico’s national squad also teamed up with resident Barangay Ginebra import Justin Brownlee and his bitter rival-turned ally Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, a staple in the TNT Tropang 5G organization.
Romero’s double duties as reinforcement of Meralco and EASL will take place once the ongoing Philippine Cup best-of-seven finals between San Miguel Beer and TNT ends.
Trillo is also thrilled on having their rookies on board — veteran international campaigner Jason Brickman and Vince Magbuhos — players who competed as rivals in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League.
Brickman played for eventual champion Abra Weavers and ended up as the Finals MVP. The 5-foot-10 guard will bring in his winning pedigree to the Bolts, who just made their way back to the Final Four after missing them in all three conferences last season.
Aside from winning the MPBL crown, Brickman also won titles while playing for the Malaysia Westport Dragons coached by Ariel Vanguardia in the Asean Basketball League in 2016 and the Kaohsiung Aquas in the T1 League in Taiwan in 2022.
Magbuhos played for the Quezon Huskers, two-time southern division champions of the MPBL. His entry would give the Bolts an extra big body up front.
Both Brickman and Magbuhos could also be included in the EASL roster of the Bolts, according to Trillo, who also added that they’re still negotiating on an import who will take over the spot of Hollis-Jefferson, who tore his Achilles during the team’s last game in Ilagan, Isabela a few months ago.
“We’re still trying to secure a deal with an import and we’ll be able to know it in a couple of days. But just in case the deal won’t push through, we already have an import on standby,” added Trillo.
Trillo didn’t name who the standby import is, but Hollis-Jefferson’s brother, Rhalir, has also been practicing with the squad ever since the three-time PBA Best import and league champion agreed to reinforce the Bolts.
