IT'S the end of another college basketball season, and the next step in the conversation is where the graduating student-athletes will go. It's more interesting now because it's not just the PBA. There are far and wide choices now. Someone might make the G League, we already have guards in Europe (Juan Gomez de Llano) and Filipinos are taking over Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.Kai Sotto is in Australia with the NBL, and Ken Tuffin was once with New Zealand. There are Filipino hoopsters all over the world, and Gilas should be able to benefit from that.The biggest college names, the most popular and talented Gilas-eligibles, are also those eligible as Asian heritage imports. It seems inevitable that the top college players would seek to play there. Dave Ildefonso is already bound to Korea. Jerom Lastimosa drew interest from both countries, and young Carl Tamayo, one year removed from winning Rookie of the Year, practiced in Korea with the Fighting Maroons — and now they risk losing him.This corner has seen armchair proposals for Asia's oldest professional basketball league, and yet, they are still fighting to secure the status quo.Side note: It's Asia's oldest league — literally and figuratively. How many leagues have 26 year-old rookies?The harsh truth: The PBA is not the NBA. It is not the 'Southeast Asian NBA' in the sense that the league is not structured the same way. No team in the NBA would sell their players and be a farm team the way Terrafirma and Blackwater are doing.There is no dignity in selling players, and it's rightful that players like Roosevelt Adams would want to leave a team that plays to lose. In the NBA, it's temporary and necessary, as most basketball fans would understand now. Joshua Munzon has been disappointing, and would want to get the next ticket out of farm hell.Players who get traded to farm teams will initially show much promise since they would have more playing time, and the pressure is not intense, if there is even pressure to win at all. Sooner or later, the system catches up with them, the constant losing and the clear lack of motivation.Farm teams exist in the PBA, and the PBA is a joke for keeping it that way.So why abolish?: With all the reports about the huge paycheck and multiple perks being given to Asian imports in the East Asian teams in the B.League, KBL and T1, what has the PBA got to counteroffer? A chance to play for Blackwater or Terrafirma? Some of these 'rookies' that enter the PBA are already over 25 years old. They don't want to miss another year in their prime.Take a look at the case of Justin Baltazar. With the recent development that he was released by his B.League team, it is likely he could finally consider playing in the PBA.However, Baltazar is a product of the Pampanga network, which is now heavily involved with Converge. Obviously, they are hatching a plan to have Baltazar play for their team. But that is unlikely since Converge traded away their draft pick to NLEX.Baltazar could have been the first overall pick last season, but he would not have gone to Converge. It's deja vu this season, and we could waste another precious prime year of a 6'9 forward.What about parity?: The draft was meant to give the cellar dwellers some hope, but that might get in the way of the harvest. Abolishing the NBA draft and implementing a system that would not just reward mediocrity, will eventually make the league competitive as a whole, not just superteams.Parity was never a concern for the PBA Board, but by letting teams sign players the way the Koreans, Japanese, and Taiwanese, do, that will help immensely, Eventually, the league will even out, or at least the gap would plateau, in terms of talent.More on this topic in succeeding columns.
