MANILA – Negrense guard Paul Varilla will remain at NLEX Road Warriors for the upcoming Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) season after signing a new deal with the team.
Road Warriors head coach Joseller “Yeng” Guiao confirmed the return of the Manapla, Negros Occidental-native Varilla, who was one of the team’s defensive specialists during the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup.
“Paul is one of those guys that when he comes into the game, he knows what he has to do. He has to make stops, at least bother, probably the best scorer of the other team,” Guiao said.
“He has balanced his game, not just as an exclusive stopper but also providing some scoring especially during the previous season,” Guiao added.
Varilla has been with the Road Warriors since 2019 after being left unsigned by the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters. Elasto Painters was the team that drafted him during the 2018 PBA Rookie Draft.
The 6-foot-3 Varilla is one of the four Western Visayas-based players in the Road Warriors camp aside from Ilonggos Kiefer Ravena and Jericho Cruz, and Bago City-native Raul Soyud.
Players like Raul Soyud, Jericho Cruz, JR Quinahan, Michael Miranda, Will McAloney, Kenneth Ighalo, Bong Galanza, and Kris Porter also signed new contracts with the Road Warriors.
Also getting new deals from the Road Warriors were reserve players Kyles Lao and Amiel Cris Soberano, who has yet to suit up for the team after begging off during the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup bubble.
The Road Warriors, however, has to announce the future of veteran center Paul Asi Taulava, who is considering retirement. Cyrus Baguio has recently formalized his retirement.
NLEX will also be busy stacking up during the 2021 PBA Rookie Draft as they owned the third and fourth pick in the Gilas special draft as well as the number three and number four picks in the regular draft./PN
