MANILA, Philippines — Meralco team manager Paolo Trillo said controversial import Ismael Romero’s stint with the team for the coming PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup is still hanging in the air.
For one, the 34-year-old Romero left the country shortly after Meralco bowed to the Ryukyu Golden Kings, 79-88.
The loss knocked the Bolts out of playoffs in the East Asia Super League Season 3 home-and-away tournament last week at the Araneta Coliseum.
Trillo said the stocky Romero will be joining Puerto Rico as it prepares to host Canada in the FIBA World Cup 2027 Americas Qualifiers scheduled on February 27 in a home game in San Juan.
Puerto Rico, then concludes the window against Bahamas on March 2.
“He flew back to Puerto Rico, but there’s no assurance yet of him coming back,” Trillo said in a brief reply to the Manila Times.
The 34-year-old Romero, then playing for Al Ahli Tripoli, drew the ire of Filipino netizens after being seen on videos circulating online kicking Zamboanga Valientes guard Nick Demusis twice during a collision in their Dubai International Basketball Invitational game on January 28.
Romero was eventually banned from playing for the rest of the competition.
The heat of what the Puerto Rican big man did however, was fueled as he played for Meralco last week against Ryukyu.
At the moment, Trillo said Romero’s issue is still being addressed.
Meanwhile, several PBA teams are taking advantage of the no height restrictions for imports in the Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup, with perennial cellar dwellers Terrafirma and Blackwater opting to tap tall reinforcements.
The Dyip are bringing in seven-foot Mubashar Ali, a 28-year-old big man born in Finland.
The incoming player played college basketball Florida Memorial University, a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) member school.
Ali also played overseas after his college career that saw him take his acts to Turkey, back to Finland and late last year, in Georgia’s Super League for club team Iverioni. Ali logged in averages of 14.5 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks in six games with the ballclub.
As for Blackwater, the team, which, just like Terrafirma, won just once in 11 games in the All-Filipino conference, is bringing in 6-foot-11 Daniel Ochefu.
A member of Villanova, which ruled the 2016 US NCAA men’s basketball, the Nigerian slotman played for the Washington Wizards in the 2016-17 NBA season despite going undrafted.
He averaged 1.3 points and 1.2 rebounds in 19 games during the regular season.
On the other hand, TNT team manager Jojo Lastimosa said they are still in negotiations as the team tries to bring in 7-foot-3 former NBA big man Bol Bol.
Other teams that already confirmed their imports include Magnolia (Terrell Brown-Soares), Rain or Shine (Jaylen Johnson), NLEX (Cady Lallane), Phoenix (James Dickey) and Ginebra, which is bringing back resident import Justin Brownlee.