Familiar names and new faces make up the season’s batch of imports in the coming PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
TNT’s Rondae Hollis Jefferson and the indefatigable Justine Brownlee of Barangay Ginebra will bring their acts back once Asia’s oldest play-for-pay league unveils its mid-season conference starting Nov. 27.
The two Best Imports are fresh from a grueling Governors’ Cup finals series, which the Tropang Giga won over the Kings in six games.
High-scoring George King for Blackwater, Ricardo Ratliffe for Magnolia, and Quincy Miller should San Miguel decide to tap their services in addition to playing for the team in the ongoing East Asia Super League Home and Away Season 2, will also return for another tour of duty in the league.
However, there are also a number of newcomers who are out to prove themselves in the tournament, which features unlimited height among imports.
Akil Mitchell already showed what he could do for Meralco when he rallied the Bolts past reigning Korean Basketball League (KBL) champion Busan KCC Egis during their EASL showdown, 81-80.
The 6-foot-9 American-Panamanian hit a game-high 33 points and 22 rebounds in the comeback win.
Northport, meanwhile, will bring in 6-foot-11 Kavell Bigby-Williams, a former member of the Great Britain men’s national team and cousin of former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis, while Phoenix decided to go with 6-foot-9 Donovan Smith.
Converge has former NBA player Cheick Diallo to reinforce the franchise. A second-round pick by the LA Clippers in the 2016 NBA Draft, the 6-foot-8 Diallo was once a teammate of former Phoenix top gun Matthew Wright with the Kyoto Hannaryz in the Japan B. League.
Terrafirma has signed Ryan Richards, another former member of the Great Britain men’s national team, while Rain or Shine tapped former Cameroonian national team member Kenneth Kadji.
NLEX earlier announced that NBA veteran Ed Davis would be its import, but a last-minute family emergency caused the 35-year-old Davis to back out.