MAKE the first seven years count.
For player agent Marvin Espiritu, players who belong to the talent-rich 2014 PBA Draft Class should not wait for their contracts to expire and test the pro league’s new unrestricted free agent rule.
“Remember, your unrestricted free agency will kick in after your seventh year. So, sa akin, meaning, kakaunti na lang kayo niyan, iyong batch ninyo, seven years considering na ang average life span ng isang PBA player, let’s say suwerte nang maka-apat na taon ka,” Espiritu said on Radyo5 92.3 News FM’s Power and Play program hosted by former PBA commissioner Noli Eala.
“Hindi naman lahat, nagtatagal ng seven years. So, iilan na lang iyan. Meaning, ang natitira diyan, it’s either talagang na-establish nila iyong sarili nila as star players. So, if na-establish mo na iyong sarili mo early in your career na star player ka, most likely bago ka makarating ng seventh year mo, nase-secure ka na ng team mo long-term,” he added.
The rule was set during the time of the late former chairman Ely Capacio in 2014, with the league seeing it will benefit players who want to suit up for other teams at the end of their contracts.
Big man Rodney Brondial and playmaker John Pinto chose to exercise their rights and leave Alaska and Meralco and instead move to San Miguel Beer and Ginebra, respectively.
Brondial and Pinto declined their respective former teams’ two-year extension offers for three-year pacts with their new squads.
Lanky forward Matt Ganuelas-Rosser, who used to play for Terrafirma, signed with TNT last Friday, a team where he also had a three-year stint from 2014-2017.
The son of veteran player agent Danny cited the case of Ginebra star guard Stanley Pringle, the top pick overall seven years ago.
“Katulad ni Stanley Pringle, hindi na niya mae-exercise iyan, existing pa rin iyong contract niya (with Ginebra),” Espiritu, who co-founded the Espiritu Manotoc Basketball Management (EMBM), said.
“So, matitira na lang diyan, iyong iba mga role players. Marami diyan, role players.”
The free agency is a hit-or-miss, according to Espiritu.
