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| JM Calma could make his return to action as a Beerman. PBA Images (file photo) |
MANILA--While everyone was anticipating who should make the PBA Greatest Players list in its latest expansion, San Miguel and NorthPort were planning to pull off a surprise.
The PBA trade committee approved the said surprise that would see Avan Nava and JM Calma swapping jerseys.
Calma has been traded to San Miguel, while Nava is NorthPort-bound following a trade that was announced late Wednesday night.
Calma was on track for a solid second year with the Batang Pier before an ACL injury last year cut that stint short.
The six-foot-six power forward, the sixth overall pick of the 2022 draft, is on track to make a return to action this year, but instead of wearing orange, he will don the Beermen's red kits instead.
On the other hand, Nava, the 12th pick of last year's draft, has played seldom in his rookie year with the SMB and even lost playing time last conference especially upon the arrival of Juami Tiongson.
Nava will now join a loaded Batang Pier backcourt led by Evan Nelle and Fran Yu.
To sweeten the pot, SMB also sent its second-round pick for this year's draft to NorthPort.
Calma could be activated as early as Saturday when the Beermen open their PBA Philippine Cup campaign against the NLEX Road Warriors at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The Batang Pier, on the other hand, will parade Nava in their conference opener the following Saturday against the Terrafirma Dyip also at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
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