the New Rule of Prohibiting Trading of #1 Pick is actually "Useless"

(c) PBA Media Bureau

Finally, the PBA board has come to their senses and unanimously approved a new rule of not allowing the #1 pick of a draft to change hand! 

This should be a reason to celebrate. Right?

Sorry. That new rule is just for visual purposes to show that PBA is actually trying to do something to allay the fears of the people now that we are very near to the 2018 draft.


Do not dare to celebrate though because nothing has changed! The franchises who only joined the league to earn extra income by feeding the bigger teams can still do it without any complication.

Why? How?

The first picked player can still be traded
The prohibition is solely about the #1 pick. The moment that pick was used, he becomes tradeable. Let us say in the 2019 draft, Columbian ended up again with the #1 pick. They chose Kobe Paras with it and they may play him for a conference and after that, they can "sell" him to other teams for a trade that will not look like as bad as the Kia-San Miguel trade but it will not still be good for the league.

Any pick can still be traded before it turns out to be the #1 pick
This is the one that I anticipate to happen in the future. Teams can still trade their future picks because only the sure #1 pick is out of trade coverage.

Like, if one team wants to sell a big time player in the 2019 draft to one of the rich franchises, they can trade their 2019 1st today and tank for that team. 

Example? Today, Columbian can trade their 2019 1st to Magnolia in exchange of Mark Barroca. This trade is easy to defend because Barroca has a name and that 1st round pick can still be #1 or #12. The management of Dyip will then make sure that they will end up in the top 3 slots for the sake of Magnolia. 

And presto, history repeated itself and the feeding team earned again. 


The PBA board is looking like a joke in trying to erase this "business deal" problem with this very weak rule. 

It is time for them to go to the root of the problem. There are franchises who entered the league not to compete, but to simply gain some money! 

You want one rule that will surely elevate the league, instantly?

Let me give you one. A team who failed to reach the playoffs for six straight conferences will be kicked out of the league.