HONG Kong Eastern as guest team in the PBA Commissioner's Cup is as good as go.
Board chairman Ricky Vargas said negotiations on the entry of the Hong Kong-based squad during the mid-season conference is going great guns he's confident the league will have another 13-team cast by November.
"We're almost there. I can say that 90 percent that we will have a guest team," announced Vargas during the presser for the league's Season 49 at the EDSA Shangri-la.
According to Vargas, he's been told Hong Kong Eastern is a competitive team.
"Baka nga stronger pa kaysa sa previous (guest) team," said Vargas, obviously referring to the Bay Area Dragons, who saw action in the 2023 Commissioner's Cup and finished runner up behind Barangay Ginebra.
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"So we are also preparing our teams to be able to compete." Commissioner Willie Marcial and Board vice chairman Alfrancis Chua are the ones leading the negotiations with the Hong Kong club.
Hong Kong Eastern previously saw action in the ASEAN Basketball League where it had Christian Standhardinger as among its primary players.
The same Hong Kong team is also set to see action in the EASL home-and-away Season 2. The league however, has yet to release the roster of the guest team.(RG)