Magnolia rolls with Bey

A young and dynamic import in Tyler Bey will be coming in to reinforce Magnolia in the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner's Cup starting 15 October.

Hotshots coach Chito Victolero made the confirmation, saying that they are looking at having Bey on board around early September.

"We're bringing in Tyler Bey and we want to have him on board early so we scheduled his flight between the first and second week of September," Victolero said in a telephone interview.

Victolero added that he was impressed with the full-game videos sent by his agent, prompting them to sign Bey, who was taken 36th overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2020 National Basketball Association Rookie Draft before playing briefly for the Dallas Mavericks.

Regarded as a solid player on both ends, the 25-year-old Bey is listed at 6-foot-7 who loves to attack from the wing spot. He is also known to be a hard-nosed defender and emerged as the Defensive Player of the year in Pac-12 while playing for Colorado.

Bey is coming off an impressive stint in Israel, where he posted a league-leading 20.3 points on 40 percent three-point shooting with 7.4 rebounds per game.

With the improvement of James Laput, the arrival of Abu Tratter and David Murrell, and the return of veteran Ian Sangalang, Victolero believes that having a dynamic, do-it-all import in Bey will boost their chances in the season-ending conference.

"He fits well in our team because he's young and athletic," Victolerio added.

"He can play either shooting guard or small forward. He also has an inside-outside game."

The Hotshots are coming  off an impressive campaign in the recent PBA On Tour in which they swept their 11 matches.