PBA Free Agency: Titan added an MPBL bigman!

 

When a franchise is coming off a miserable 2-10 Governors' Cup campaign and staring down the barrel of a massive organizational rebuild, you expect them to swing for the fences in the offseason. The Titan Ultra Giant Risers desperately need an influx of talent, and they just made their first significant move by plucking a familiar name from the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL).

Sources have confirmed that Titan Ultra has signed free agent Christian Fajarito to a lucrative three-year deal.

Fajarito spent the ongoing MPBL season running with the Pasay Voyagers, and if you look purely at the stat sheet, it is easy to see why Titan's front office picked up the phone. The former Letran big man put up very solid numbers: 13.1 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game.

But what truly jumps off the scouting report is his perimeter touch. Fajarito averaged 1.6 made three-pointers per contest. In modern professional basketball, a big man who can genuinely shoot and score from the outside is one of the most coveted assets on the market. Fajarito gives Titan a legitimate stretch option who can pull opposing shot-blockers out of the paint, creating crucial driving lanes for the rest of the roster. The shooting is real, and the scoring punch is exactly what a stagnant Titan offense needs.

But while the player makes sense, the contract is a massive head-scratcher.

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Are we absolutely sure it is worth signing him to a guaranteed three-year deal?

In the high-stakes chess match of PBA roster building, handing out a three-year contract to an MPBL call-up is a monumental risk. Rebuilding teams like Titan should be operating with extreme financial flexibility, hoarding short-term assets while they figure out their core identity. Giving a three-year commitment to a player who still has to prove his game translates to the grueling, highly physical PBA landscape feels incredibly premature.

Why not offer a standard one-year "prove-it" contract, or a two-year deal with a team option?

If Fajarito hits the ground running and his three-point stroke translates flawlessly against PBA defenses, then Titan looks like a genius. But if he struggles with the speed of the pro game, or if his defense makes him unplayable against elite PBA bigs, the Risers are suddenly chained to a multi-year contract that will clog their salary cap space and roster flexibility during the most critical years of their rebuild.

You can never have enough big men who can shoot, but in the business of basketball, the length of the contract is just as important as the skill of the player. Titan Ultra is rolling the dice on Fajarito, and they are praying they didn't just lock themselves into a three-year mistake.

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