Munzon or Malonzo?

THE day has come when basketball dreams are set to come true as the Season 46 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Rookie Draft unfolds today.

Jamie Malonzo & Joshua Munzon. CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS

The event, which will be held virtually, begins at 4 p.m.

Fans can catch the proceedings on TV5, One Sports and PBA Rush as well as on PBA’s social media platforms.

A total of 86 rookie applicants are hoping to have their names called with either Joshua Munzon or Jamie Malonzo expected to be picked first overall in this talent-rich draft.

Some of the prospective first rounders are Mikey Williams, Franky Johnson, Calvin Oftana, Larry Muyang, James Laput, Santi Santillan, Alvin Pasaol, Ben Adamos, Troy Rike and Jerrick Ahanmisi.

The special Gilas Draft will commence first, and the players available to be picked are Jaydee Tungcab, Jordan Heading, Will Navarro and Tzaddy Rangel.

Terrafirma Dyip will pick first in the Gilas Draft, followed by NorthPort Batang Pier, NLEX Road Warriors and TNT Tropang Giga.

After which, the regular Draft will continue with Terrafirma picking first overall, followed by NorthPort, NLEX, TNT, Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, Alaska Aces, Phoenix Fuel Masters, Terrafirma, Meralco Bolts, Magnolia Hotshots, NorthPort and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, which will cap off the first round with the 12th overall pick.

San Miguel Beermen don’t have a first-round pick after packaging its eighth overall with Gelo Alolino, Matt Ganuelas-Rosser and Russell Escoto in a controversial trade that netted the team the two-time scoring champion CJay Perez. San Miguel also doesn’t own a second-round pick due a previous transaction.

Likewise, Blackwater Bossing lost its fourth overall pick after trading in a three-team deal involving the Road Warriors and the Tropang Giga. The Tropang Giga ultimately got the fourth overall pick along with the fourth pick in the Gilas Draft.

TNT made the move in order to fill the void left by star forward Ray Parks Jr., who recently announced that he was skipping the upcoming PBA season due to “family reasons.”

Ginebra will then set the second round of the draft in motion by picking first overall. The Gin Kings move up from No. 12 to No. 1 in the second round by swapping picks with Batang Pier and sending Jerrick Balanza to NorthPort in the very last trade movement related to the draft that the PBA approved on Friday.

Blackwater will follow suit with the second and third picks. Alaska will pick fourth, and Rain or Shine will pick fifth, followed by Phoenix with the sixth and seventh picks. NLEX returns with the eighth pick, followed by Alaska. Rain or Shine will have the 10th and 11th picks as NorthPort gets the 12th pick.

In the third round, Terrafirma picks first, followed by NorthPort, Blackwater, NLEX, Rain or Shine, Magnolia, Alaska, San Miguel, Meralco, Phoenix, TNT and Ginebra.

Teams are expected to draft until the fourth round, which also follows the same order of the third.