Following a fairly successful season, Blackwater decided to roll the dice in hopes of leveling up further in the coming new season of the Philippine Basketball Association.
With all the moves it made in the off-season, including the shipping of two of its consistent gunners JP Erram and Paul Zamar, the Elite had many raising their eyebrows.
Still, Blackwater is optimistic that its moves and decision to inject some young blood into its core can help it achieve more.
“We have some nice young pieces that can really help us now,” said Blackwater coach Bong Ramos. “The mixture of talent we have can continue our progress.”
In Erram and Zamar’s place, the Elite got rookies Paul Desiderio and Abu Tratter, who have intriguing and promising potentials.
To show its trust in the neophyte duo, Blackwater signed both to three-year deals right away.
Blackwater is positive that the addition of those young guns to its improving core of Mac Belo, Mike DiGregorio, Raymar Jose and Allein Maliksi can make a difference.
Also, as it stands now despite some constant trade talks, Blackwater still has No. 2 pick Bobby Ray Parks in its fray.
Two weeks ago, it seemed that the Elite was ready to also trade the highly-touted Parks to Meralco but as it stands at the moment, owner Dioceldo Sy stated that the team is keen on keeping the spitfire.
In fact, the Elite already offered Parks a lucrative P10.4 million rookie deal for three years several days ago.
In addition, another UP standout in Diego Dario was also signed by Blackwater to a one-year deal.
Last season, the Elite made some serious noise as it had a respectable showing in the Governors’ Cup, reaching the quarterfinals before falling to eventual champion Magnolia.
