Blackwater closes deal with rookies

The Blackwater Elite on Thursday officially signed rookies Paul Desiderio and Abu Tratter to three-year contracts after being acquired in a post-draft day trade from NLEX in exchange for Poy Erram.

Desiderio inked a max contract estimated at 110.44 million while Tratter agreed on a 16.5-million pact after holding separate meetings with Elite team manager Joel Co.

Desiderio was joined by his agent Mel Macasaquit while Tratter was with manager PJ Pilares when they met Co at the Reyes Gym in Mandaluyong City where Blackwater holds practice sessions.

Their monthly dues are worth the increased monthly salaries the PBA will formally implement next season.

The question lingers now for Blackwater if it will reach a similar agreement with second overall Ray Parks Jr.

Elite management and Parks are still negotiating on a deal, though team owner Dioceldo Sy had bared that he has raised his offer from a two-year max deal to a three-year contract.

NLEX got Desiderio and Tratter as the fourth and seventh overall picks of the annual draft held last Dec. 16, but Road Warriors coach Yeng Guiao immediately dealt the former UAAP stars to Blackwater for Erram.

The PBA’s trade committee, however, is inclined to approve the deal only after a revised trade that would send big man Michael Miranda from NLEX to TNT KaTropa for backup center Philip Paredes and possibly another player or a future pick is given the green light.

TNT, according to a reliable source, entered the picture at the last minute.

The 6-foot-7 Erram has already been practicing with the Road Warriors since last week and would have formed a formidable frontline with Miranda.

But the decision of TNT to get into the picture could hurt NLEX’s roster at the frontline since the 6-foot-6 Miranda has developed into a reliable big under Yeng Guiao.

Galvez) (With reports from Waylon