It appears that the Philippine Basketball Association had seen the futility of the implementation of the Restricted Trading List (RTL) as it scrapped it in their last board meeting.

The RTL was started during former Commissioner Noli Eala’s term to prevent lopsided player trade deals from happening. However, some loopholes were seen and used as a team can replace a player in RTL to materialize a trade.

Now with its abolishment, it will not be too hard for a team to trade its marquee players if it decides to. Since Danny Seigle is listed on the Restricted Trading List, will the removal of RTL be a trigger for his trade?

The 2009 Fiesta Conference imports height are limited to 6-foot-6. This is bad news for teams lacking in a legitimate center. As for the San Miguel Beermen, I think this is advantageous to us as our frontliners are already solid and we don’t need another bigman. I think the coaching staff can opt for an import who can handle the playmaking chores for the Beermen to counter the abscense of Mike Cortez.

For the full news coverage and other PBA developments, the Philippine Basketball Association (pba.ph) has this news story.

FIESTA CONFERENCE IMPORTS NO TALLER THAN 6-FOOT-6
Board does away with RTL
Tuesday, November 4, 2008

The PBA Board of Governors agreed on a 6-foot-6 (1.98 cm) height limit for imports in the 2009 Fiesta Conference during its regular monthly meeting Tuesday at the league’s headquarters in Libis, Quezon City.

That passing of the new rule should keep the competitive balance of the 10 teams in the season-ending tournament that didn’t require a height limit for imports last season.

PBA Commissioner Sonny Barrios said the Board also reached a consensus to do away with the handicapping system that allowed the ninth and 10th placers of the 2007-08 Philippine Cup to field two imports (one 6-foot-1 and another with no height limit).

The Barangay Ginebra Kings are the defending champions of the Fiesta Conference and they won it with seven-footer Chris Alexander.

In the same meeting, the Board also abolished the Restricted Trading List (RTL) that was put in place supposedly to prevent one-sided trades.

Under its concept, a team can only trade a player in the RTL with a player who is also in the “protected” list.

In other developments:

The Board appointed Red Bull representative Tony Chua as General Manager of the RP Team that will represent the country in the 2009 FIBA-Asia qualifying tournament for the World Championships.

The Board will invite RP team coach Yeng Guiao to lunch next week as soon as he arrives from the US on Nov.12.

Sta. Lucia Realty representative Buddy Encarnado encouraged the Office of the Commissioner to give due recognition to former star players who weren’t able to retire formally even in a simple ceremony.

Barrios said he would immediately draft the criteria to determine those qualified to be honored. (DBC)

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