Magnolia won't be parading Serbian-American Nick Rakocevic when the Philippine Basketball Association opens its 48th season with the hosting of the Commissioner's Cup starting 15 October.

Rakocevic was being groomed to become the Hotshots' resident import but the current restriction among reinforcements won't allow him to suit up.

The league has ruled that imports measuring 6-9 and above won't be accepted.

Rakocevic, who was measured as 6-9 when he played for Magnolia during last year's Commissioner's Cup that had a 6-10 ceiling, has to be measured below 6-9 to qualify.

Under PBA rules, imports being eyed to play should be at least a fraction of an inch to get the go-signal to play.

Usually, the league opens a season by staging the Philippine Cup (All-Filipino) but owing to the tight schedule, it had to do some tweaking.

'He's our priority, of course, but we are also on the lookout for options now that we have a new height limit.'

Magnolia head coach Chito Victolero admitted that Rakocevic, known for his terrific scoring and solid rebounding, was high on the team's list but they have to look elsewhere given the current standard imposed by the league.

"He's our priority, of course, but we are also on the lookout for options now that we have a new height limit," Victolero said of the United States-born player who is listed in America as 6-11.

While the opening of the Commissioner's Cup won't be taking place anytime soon, Magnolia is zeroing in on its campaign in the pre-season games.

Last Friday, the Hotshots rolled to a 96-63 win over TNT behind the hot scoring of Rome dela Rosa, who drilled in 19 points on seven-of-11 shooting from the field.

Joseph Eriobu, the team's 3×3 standout, also stepped up and wound up with 14 points.

Big man James Laput continued his solid showing in the preseason and posted another double-double performance. He had 11 points and 13 boards to go along with three blocks.

Mark Barroca, Jerrick Ahanmisi and new Magnolia player David Murrell all tallied 11 points.