MANILA – Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings had added depth to its frontline ahead of its title defense in the 2021 PBA Governors’ Cup which kicks off later this month at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
In a trade deal approved on Tuesday, the Kings acquired the services of Sidney Onwubere from NorthPort Batang Pier in exchange for injury-riddled Arthur dela Cruz.
Onwubere, a former standout of Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals, is a welcome addition to the Kings, which is aiming to rebound from its quarterfinals exit in the 2021 PBA Philippine Cup.
Onwubere will share minutes with the Kings’ frontline which is led by Japeth Aguilar, Christian Standhardinger, Prince Caperal, Raymond Aguilar, and Aljon Mariano.
Onwubere’s numbers is on the rise the past two seasons. He normed 5.8 points and 3.4 rebounds for the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup before being traded to Batang Pier.
He continued his improvement with NorthPort where he averaged 9.45 points, 5.82 rebounds, 1.27 assists in 28 minutes as the starting power forward in the 2021 All Filipino conference.
The Batang Pier, on the other hand, got the services of former collegiate standout Dela Cruz who was in and out of Ginebra’s roster the past few seasons due to various injuries.
The 6-foot-4 Dela Cruz arrived at the Kings via a trade from Blackwater in 2017. He was part of Ginebra’s four championship runs despite only playing a total of 39 games for the team in five years.
This was the third trade deal entered into by the Batang Pier in less than a week after sending Vic Manuel to the San Miguel Beermen on Monday for Arwind Santos.
Friday last week, Batang Pier acquired Manuel and Michael Calisaan from the Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters for Filipino-American forward Sean Anthony and Sean Manganti./PN
