Kings grant Ahanmisi trade wish

Maverick Ahanmisi’s wish of getting traded had been granted as Ginebra shipped him to Terrafirma barely a week into the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) 50th Season Philippine Cup.

The PBA Commissioner’s Office formally approved the deal that sent the disgruntled Ahanmisi along with longtime rotation player Aljon Mariano to the Dyip in exchange for their first-round pick next year.

The deal will be win-win for all sides.

In a vlog entry recently, the 34-year-old Ahanmisi expressed his desire to leave the Kings in quest for a solid playing time now that he’s entering the twilight years of his professional career.

He said he reached out to “Boss,” who is likely San Miguel Corporation sports director Alfrancis Chua, to personally request a trade. His principal agreed and quickly sent him to Terrafirma after sitting out the Kings opening-day game against Magnolia, 80-73.

With that, Ahanmisi gets to reunite with his younger brother, Jerrick, who arrived at Terrafirma in an off-season deal that sent Javi Gomez de Liano to Magnolia. He will be leaving Ginebra after averaging 7.5 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 21 minutes of action in 65 games.

It’s also a win for Ginebra, which can get an early chance to select in what is shaping to be a talent-laden draft pool next year that might feature the likes of Kevin Quiambao, Dwight Ramos, Mike Phillips, and Quentin Millora-Brown, who was recently classified as a Filipino by the International Basketball Federation.

Submission of draft application is in January of 2027.

Mariano, on the other hand, will leave the Kings after being taken in the second round of the 2015 draft. He played only 28 games with averages of 1.4 points and 1.1 rebounds in five minutes of play.