Tautuaa, Rosario get maximum contracts

Talk ‘N Text (TNT) yesterday signed rookies Moala Tautuaa and Troy Rosario to three-year contracts worth R8.5 million each. The two were the top two overall picks in Sunday’s PBA Rookie Draft.

Tautuaa, a Fil-Tongan, was picked No. 1 pick while Rosario, chosen No. 2 by the Mahindra Enforcers (formerly Kia Carnival), was traded to TNT the other day.

Meralco, TNT’s sister team in the PBA, also signed fourth pick Chris Newsome, the former Ateneo star, to a similar three-year, R8.5-million contract.

Virgil Villavicencio, who returns to his old post as TNT team manager when Jimmy Alapag decided to play again after retiring in January, said that the two TNT rookies will receive the maximum monthly salary for draftees.

Alapag, meanwhile, has been included in the Gilas Pilipinas pool and is likely to play for the national team in the FIBA Asia Championship next month. He also will see action in the William Jones Cup which starts tomorrow in Taipei.

Tautuaa and Rosario, who are both 6-feet-7, and Newsome, 6-feet-2, will receive the maximum amount for rookies which is R150,000 on the first year, R225,000 on the second and R375,000 on the third.

Sources, however, said that Tautuaa and Rosario can renegotiate their contracts after the second year, and aim for the league’s maximum salary of R420,000 per month.

That will depend on their performances during the first two years.

“There is certain a parameter to determine if they can ask the team for maximum contract even after two years. It’s allowable under league rules, as long as it’s within the team salary cap,” said the source who requested not to be named.

Meanwhile, Chris Tiu, who pondered retirement after playing his third season in the PBA last month, decided to stay with his team and was signed a two-year contract extension by Rain or Shine yesterday.

Mamerto Mondragon, Rain or Shine’s board representative to the PBA board of governors, said Tiu signed a deal worth R10.08 million that translates to a monthly salary of P420,000, the maximum allowable under PBA rule.