2010 PBA DRAFT

The Air21 Express turned out to be the biggest winner in the past Philippine Basketball Association Rookie Draft held at the Market! Market! Activity Center in Taguig last Sunday. But with four picks in the first round, it was not likely they could go wrong.

The Express named the Ateneo De Manila University pair of frontliners Nonoy Baclao and Rabeh Al-Hussaini as the first and second overall picks. But they may have alienated Al-Hussaini when they picked him second behind Baclao.

Embarrassed, the 6’7” Al-Hussaini was at first speechless when interviewed by media men. Later he admitted he felt slighted by the decision.

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2009 PBA DRAFT
August 2, 2009 @ Market! Market! (Taguig)

There was hardly a surprise when the Burger King Whoopers made their pick in the 2009 PBA Draft at the Market Market Place in Taguig last August 2, 2009. The 6-9 Japeth Aguilar was the consensus number one pick among a field of 52 players who declared themselves eligible for the draft. Aguilar, toiled with the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers in the US NCAA (becoming the first homegrown Filipino to do so) for two fruitless seasons before embarking on a pro career.

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2008 PBA DRAFT
August 31, 2008 @ Market! Market! (Taguig)

As expected, versatile swingman Gabe Norwood became the first pick of the 2008 PBA Annual Draft. Rain Or Shine tapped the George Mason University standout to reinforce their lineup and improve their last place finish in last season’s Smart Fiesta Cup. The Talk & Text Phonepals on the other hand, maximized the talent of this year’s draft and made the most significant picks in this year’s pool. The Phonepals picked versatile forward Jarred Dillinger for the second overall pick.

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2007 PBA DRAFT
August 18, 2007 @ Market! Market! (Taguig)

Welcoat wanted a do-all, go-to guy as it opted for Fil-Am Joe Devance over homegrown 6-9 Samigue Eman as the No. 1 pick overall in the 2007 PBA Rookie Draft at the Market! Market! Mall in Taguig. “After a long, thorough discussion and deliberation, we decided to go for the more complete package who can play on both ends of the court. We think it’s the popular, right and logical choice,” said coach Leo Austria after his team bestowed top pick honors on Devance. With Devance, Austria thought they’ve gotten a player who can well help them in their bid to improve their forgettable finishes last season. The team management also had high hopes on Devance that co-team owners Terry Que and Raymund Yu readily declared they would make things easy for the Fil-Am behemoth, offering him right away the maximum pay in his first three years in the league. That would be no less than P7 million.

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2006 PBA DRAFT
August 20, 2006 @ Market! Market! (Taguig)

So much for the “homegrown” image. Realizing that they have a potential cornerstone for the picking, the Sta. Lucia Realtors yesterday made Fil-American forward Kelly Williams as the top overall choice in the 2006 Philippine Basketball Association rookie draft.

Williams will add depth to the already formidable frontline of the Realtors composed of old hands Dennis Espino and Marlou Aquino and his arrival gives the team its first foreign-born player in quite a long time.

“It feels great, I’ll give all I have to the league and my team,” Williams, the former franchise player of Magnolia in the Philippine Basketball League, told Arab News. “I’m excited to play, no matter for what team.” The selection of Williams came as a truly mild surprise, as the Realtors, who ditched all their Fil-American players after the brouhaha involving “Fil-Sham” Rob Medalla Parker in 1999, selected the Detroit native ahead of everyone else.

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2005 PBA DRAFT
August 14, 2005 @ Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall (Cainta, Rizal)

AIR21 made the biggest catch -- as expected -- in the annual Philippine Basketball Association Rookie Draft yesterday, picking up three blue-chip players led by this year's No. 1 overall choice Anthony Washington. A 6-foot-5 forward out of Eckerd College in the US NCAA Division II, the 190-lb Washington was the hands-down choice of the Express even before the rookie selection process started at the Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall in Cainta, Rizal. "I was really nervous but I'm glad that it's finally over," said Washington, 22, who recently led Welcoat Paints to a championship crown in the Philippine Basketball League.

"I heard they (Express) were considering me as the top pick, but it
never really sank in until my name was called."

The Express also grabbed UAAP and PBL Most Valuable Player Mac
Cardona of De La Salle University (fifth overall) and made the slam-
dunking Nino Canaleta of University of the East the sixth pick.

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2004 PBA DRAFT
January 16, 2004 @ Glorietta Activity Center (Makati City)

Shell opted to pick Ateneo forward Rich Alvarez No. 1 overall in the PBA Rookie Draft at the Glorietta in Makati last night following a last day deal for a big man from another team. As in last year's draft, Shell struck a three-way trade transaction hours before the event with sister teams Purefoods and San Miguel Beer, bringing in big man Billy Mamaril. The Turbochargers first acquired the Beermen's No. 7 pick in the draft in exchange for pointguard Dale Singson. The Pilipinas Shell franchise then dealt the pick plus forward Eddie Laure to Purefoods for Mamaril.

Solving its problem at the center slot but creating a vacuum at the forward spot, Shell exercised its rights on the No. 1 pick on Alvarez over other top draftees Ranidel de Ocampo, Joachim Thoss, Jean Marc Pingris and Ervin Sotto.

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2003 PBA DRAFT
January 12, 2003 @ Glorietta Activity Center (Makati City)

With fiery guard Mike Cortez emerging the top pick a long foregone conclusion, a surprise trade involving one-time MVP and three-time Asian Gamer Kenneth Duremdes and a pair of quick steals became the big news in the 2003 Samsung PBA Annual Draft at the Glorietta yesterday. A few minutes before the draft, Alaska dealt Duremdes to Sta. Lucia in exchange for draft picks, and used these to pick two other Fil-Am players aside from Cortez -- a move that had the Uytengsu franchise yielding the final piece of the Alaska dynasty in the 90s.

"We just did it. It happened quickly. Kenneth was informed of the trade a few minutes before the draft and he took it as a true professional," said Alaska coach Tim Cone of the trade that caught many by surprise during the draft exercise witnessed by a huge Sunday crowd in the spacious Makati mall.

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2002 PBA DRAFT
January 13, 2002 @ Glorietta Activity Center (Makati City)

He would have easily been the third pick of the 2002 PBA Draft if the two biggest stars of the other professional league had qualified for the pool. But as fate would have it, the distinction of of being the top pick this year was reserved for the very promising Yancy de Ocampo, a 6-8 slotman who had in the past three seasons stamped his class in the amateur scene. Bert Lina, owner of the newest franchise in the league, FedEx AirFreight 2100 was trying to make an ans in the analogy between his company and his top draftee but somehow just couldn't put it together when commissioner Emilio P. Bernardino, Jr. asked him to name the number one pick.

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2001 PBA DRAFT
January 14, 2001 @ Glorietta Activity Center (Makati City)

Red Bull yesterday opted to pick its original choice, home-grown talent Willie Miller over the absent Fil-Am Michael Hrabak, to ensure an efficient court-generalship on its most important season as a major contender in the Philippine Basketball Association during the PBA Annual Draft at the Glorietta in Makati.

Without a glimpse of Hrabak, Red Bull went for Miller to firm up its pointguard spot with ace player Jimwell Torion going under the knife for a shoulder injury.

Instead, Shell picked Hrabak, an unknown quality despite heavy media dose on his credentials even as Barangay Ginebra made what could be the biggest steal by taking in another Fil-Am player Mark Caguioa.

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