2014 PBA Expansion Draft

The 2014 PBA Expansion Draft is the third expansion draft of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The draft was held on July 18, 2014, so that the newly founded teams Blackwater Elite and the Kia Sorento could acquire players for the 2014–15 season. A "protect 12" scheme was implemented for the draft, meaning that the 10 existing PBA teams could protect up to 12 players in their rosters and unconditionally release their unprotected players to the expansion pool.^[1][2] This was the first expansion draft held by the PBA since 2000, when Batang Red Bull Energizers entered the league as an expansion team.^[3] The draft was closed to the public as the final list was distributed only to the expansion clubs. Players involved would be returned to their original teams if they were not chosen, provided they were unaware of their inclusion in the draft.^[4]

2014 PBA Expansion Draft
General information
Date(s)	July 18, 2014
Location	Microtel Acropolis, Libis, Quezon City
Overview
League	Philippine Basketball Association
Expansion teams	Blackwater Elite Kia Sorento
← 2000

Blackwater Elite were formed as one of the founding members of the PBA Developmental League in 2011. They were only the D-League team, besides the NLEX Road Warriors to win a championship, which they won in the 2013 PBA D-League Foundation Cup.^[5] The team is owned by Dioceldo Sy, through his company, Ever Bilena Cosmetics, Inc. Sy also owned the Blu Detergent team in the Philippine Basketball League, who hired Asi Taulava before turning professional in 1999.^[6]

The Kia Sorento were formed after the approval of the league's board of governors on their expansion application, together with Blackwater and NLEX. The team is owned by Columbian Autocar Corporation, the local distributor of Kia cars in the Philippines. On June 9, 2014, the team held a press conference, announcing that boxer Manny Pacquiao would coach their team in the 2014–15 season.^{[7][8][9][10]} A naming contest was held to determine the team's moniker.^[11] On August 24, during the 2014 PBA draft, Columbian Autocar Corporation president Gina Domingo announced that they took the moniker "Sorento", the name of their top-selling sports utility vehicle in the Philippines and United States.^[12]

The NLEX Road Warriors were supposed to be part of this expansion draft, but they opted to buy the Air21 Express.^{[13][14][15][16]} NLEX started as a founding member of the PBA D-League and won six championships, most recently the 2014 Foundation Cup, when they swept Blackwater Elite in their finals series.^[17]

Key

Pos.	G	F	C
Position	Guard	Forward	Center

Selections

The draft was supposed to be held at the PBA office in Libis, Quezon City, but due to the rotational power cuts caused by the aftermath of Typhoon Glenda (international name Rammasun), the draft was held at Microtel Acropolis, which across Circumferential Road 5 from the league's offices.^[18]

Pick	Player	Pos.	Country of birth	Team	Previous team	PBA years^[a]	Career with the franchise^[b]
1	Danny Ildefonso	C	Philippines	Blackwater Elite	Meralco Bolts	16	—^[d]
2	Reil Cervantes	F	Philippines	Kia Sorento	Barako Bull Energy	3	2014–2015
3	Alex Nuyles	G	Philippines	Blackwater Elite	Rain or Shine Elasto Painters	1	2014–2015
4	Mike Burtscher	F	Switzerland	Kia Sorento	Air21 Express	5	2014–2015
5	JR Cawaling	F	Philippines	Blackwater Elite	San Mig Super Coffee Mixers	1	2014
6	Hans Thiele	C/F	Philippines	Kia Sorento	Barako Bull Energy	4	2014–2015
7	Eddie Laure	F	Philippines	Blackwater Elite	Alaska Aces	11	2014–2015
8	Alvin Padilla	G	Philippines	Kia Sorento	Barangay Ginebra San Miguel	0^[c]	2014
9	Bryan Faundo	F	Philippines	Blackwater Elite	Barangay Ginebra San Miguel	5	2014–2015
10	Jai Reyes	G	Philippines	Kia Sorento	Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters	5	—^[d]
11	John Paul Erram	C	Philippines	Blackwater Elite	Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters	0^[c]	2014–2018
12	Paul Sanga	F	Philippines	Kia Sorento	undrafted	0^[c]	2014
13	Paul Artadi	G	Philippines	Blackwater Elite	Meralco Bolts	10	2014
14	Angelus Raymundo	F	Philippines	Kia Sorento	GlobalPort Batang Pier	2	2014
15	Gilbert Bulawan	F	Philippines	Blackwater Elite	Barako Bull Energy	3	2014–2016
16	Eder John Saldua	G	Philippines	Kia Sorento	undrafted	0^[c]	2014
17	Riego Gamalinda	G	Philippines	Blackwater Elite	Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters	4	2014–2017
18	Nic Belasco	F	United States	Kia Sorento	Alaska Aces	17	—^[d]
19	Chris Timberlake	G	United States	Blackwater Elite	Meralco Bolts	5	2014–2015
20	LA Revilla	G	Philippines	Kia Sorento	GlobalPort Batang Pier	1	2014–2017
21	Norman Gonzales	F	Philippines	Blackwater Elite	Powerade Tigers	13	—^[d]
22	Joshua Webb	G	Philippines	Kia Sorento	Air21 Express	0^[c]	2014-2015
23	Robby Celiz	G	Philippines	Blackwater Elite	Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters	1	2014–2015
24	Richard Alonzo	F	Philippines	Kia Sorento	GlobalPort Batang Pier	8	2014

Notes

• ^a Number of years played in the PBA prior to the draft
• ^b Career with the expansion franchise that drafted the player
• ^c Never played in the PBA prior to the expansion draft
• ^d Never played a game for the franchise

References

1. No direct hires for three PBA expansion teams, but board relents to 'Protect 12' scheme, additional draft picks, Karlo Sacamos, spin.ph, April 24, 2014
2. PBA expansion teams given more draft rights, Nelson Beltran, The Philippine Star, April 24, 2014
3. Josef Fuentebella, PBA: The Life of an Expansion Team. The LaSallian, September 19, 2014
4. 10 teams meet PBA dispersal draft list deadline Snow Badua, Solar Sports Desk, July 11, 2014 July 15, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
5. Blackwater sweeps NLEX for PBA D-League title, Mark Giongco, Philippine Daily Inquirer, June 11, 2013
6. New PBA team Blackwater Sports takes a look at Don Allado, Roger Yap in practice, Reuben Terrado, spin.ph, April 30, 2014
7. "Manny Pacquiao to coach basketball". ESPN.com. June 10, 2014. Retrieved November 7, 2014.
8. Pamintuan, Carlo (June 9, 2014). "Manny Pacquiao officially introduced as Team KIA's head coach in the PBA". Yahoo PH Sports. Retrieved November 7, 2014.
9. Dy, Richard (June 9, 2014). "It's official: Manny Pacquiao will be head coach of Kia Motors in PBA debut next season". Spin.ph. Retrieved November 7, 2014.
10. Kia names Manny Pacquiao head coach of their expansion team, GMA News Online, June 9, 2014
11. Kia puts up contest for PBA team name, 15 finalists to win US trip to watch NBA game July 14, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, Joshua Lopez, InterAksyon.com, May 29, 2014
12. Kia finally settles on a moniker for PBA team - and it's neither Kamao nor Pride, Snow Badua, spin.ph, August 24, 2014
13. Ballesteros, Jan (June 26, 2014). "PBA approves NLEX's acquisition of Air21 franchise". Sports Desk PH. Retrieved November 7, 2014.
14. Bracher, Jane (June 26, 2014). "PBA: Air21 franchise officially sold to NLEX". Rappler. Retrieved November 7, 2014.
15. Pamintuan, Carlo (June 26, 2014). "NLEX Road Warriors officially enter the PBA after buying the Air21 Express". Yahoo PH Sports. Retrieved November 7, 2014.
16. NLEX opts to buy existing club instead of entering as expansion team, GMA News Online, June 16, 2014
17. PBA-bound NLEX sweeps Blackwater in finals to complete perfect campaign in D-League, Reuben Terrado, spin.ph, June 2, 2014
18. FLASH: Blackwater makes Danny Ildefonso the first pick of PBA dispersal draft, Snow Badua, spin.ph, July 18, 2014