By REYNALD MAGALLON
Converge already had two Best Player of the Conference candidates in the PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup.
And they just added one.
The FiberXers acquired Calvin Abueva from the Titan Ultra Giant Risers in exchange for three players through a deal approved by the PBA trade committee on Tuesday, Feb. 3.
King Caralipio, Mark Omega and Rey Suerte, meanwhile, will be joining Titan Ultra which seemingly pressed the reset button early in their PBA campaign after finishing ninth with a 4-7 record in their first conference in the league.
Abueva, who relished a second wind on his career last conference under the PBA newcomers, is set to join fellow BPC contenders Juan Gomez de Liano and Justine Baltazar.
Gomez de Liano was a runner-up to eventual winner June Mar Fajardo in the BPC race while Abueva finished third after leading the league in scoring with 23.6 points per contest and finishing in the top 15 of all the statistical categories.
Abueva’s addition surely adds depth and firepower to Converge which already also had Justin Arana, Alec Stockton and Schonny Winston forming the team’s core.
For the Giant Risers, on the other hand, the move signified a change of direction for the team which had Abueva emerging as their best player last conference and following the reported departure of former coach John Cardel.
With Abueva’s departure, much of the load, once again, falls on the shoulders of Joshua Munzon.
