Perasol stands by Lassiter trade

AKTV/Leslie Sy

Weeks after saying he didn’t want Marcio Lassiter traded, Powerade coach Bo Perasol now stands by the five-man deal that sent the star rookie to the Petron Blaze Boosters.

“I stand by that decision,” wrote Perasol in a text message to InterAKTV.

Perasol is currently on a vacation in Hong Kong, but before leaving the country, he signed the trade paper that dealt Lassiter along with veteran guard Celino Cruz to Petron in exchange for Rabeh Al-Hussaini, Rey Guevarra, and Lordy Tugade.

Lassiter had been a key factor in the resurgence of the Tigers, along with top pick JVee Casio. Powerade had been one of the league’s bottom-dwellers before the entry of the two rookies, who led them to a Cinderella run in the finals in this year’s Philippine Cup.

In an earlier interview, Perasol said he was against trading Lassiter but added the decision to trade players was management’s, not his. But he had specific types of players he wanted if his second leading local scorer were to be dealt.

“Kung ako papipiliin, we want to get a scoring big man and a scoring wing man if Marcio is traded,” he said earlier.

Al-Hussaini, who won Rookie of the Year honors last season, is a center with great scoring touch, but is coming off a serious knee injury. Guevarra and Tugade are both capable scorers from the wing, but have seen limited minutes off the bench for the Boosters this season. Perasol said it’s up to him to fit the new players into his squad.

“There are ways to make that trade work. My job is to find those ways and I intend to do just that,” he said.

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