WITH the fate of gunner Matthew Wright in the team hanging in the air, Phoenix coach Topex Robinson said they are ready to make do with the cards they are dealt with.
“I can’t comment on that for now,” Robinson told Malaya-Business Insight yesterday, referring to the status of Wright, whose contract is set to expire on August 31.
“We have four picks in the second round (in this year’s draft), but we will always go for the best available talent,” he added.
The 6-foot-4 Wright has yet to sign a contract extension with the Fuel Masters and has received offers to show his wares overseas.
Phoenix wound up with a 5-6 card after the elimination round and hurdled the NorthPort Batang Pier in a do-or-die match to advance to the quarterfinals. The Fuel Masters, however, fell to No. 1 Magnolia in the quarters.
“We want to be better than our last conference,” Robinson said. “We will resume practice this week.”
Several amateur standouts and even pros have chosen greener pastures the past two years.
The likes of brothers Kiefer and Thirdy Ravena, Bobby Ray Parks Jr, Kobe Paras, Dwight Ramos, Javi Gomez de Liaño, Kemark Cariño, and Matthew Aquino are playing in the fledgling Japan B.League.
Jordan Heading and Jason Brickman are playing in Taiwan, while 7-foot-3 center Kai Sotto will join the NBA rookie draft in June.
Among those likely to join the PBA draft set on May 15 and to be coveted by teams are Jeremiah Gray, who is recovering from an ACL injury, and Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser.
The two highly touted cagers were ruled ineligible last year but are expected to make it this year after the PBA relaxed its rules on Fil-foreign applicants.
Blackwater owns the first and ninth picks overall, followed by Terrafirma at No. 2, while Converge selects at third and fourth, and Rain or Shine fifth.
Closing out the first round are NorthPort at sixth, NLEX at seventh, Ginebra at eighth, the Painters at 11th anew, and Magnolia at 12th.
