The Pampanga Giant Lanterns have added three PBA players—Alvin Pasaol, Raffy Verano, and CJ Payawal—to their squad in an attempt to win the MPBL for a third consecutive year.

The new agreements made during the transfer window were verified by the league.

Pasaol and Verano are returning from PBA Philippine Cup spells with Meralco and Phoenix, respectively, where the Bolts and Fuelmasters were eliminated. On June 30, Pasaol’s agreement with Meralco came to an end.

Payawal is not on the Tropang 5G’s active roster, although he is an unrestricted free agent with the right to be paid, and his PBA team, TNT, is still playing Rain or Shine in the conference semifinals.

Payawal was signed by TNT after being selected by Phoenix at No. 28 in the Season 49 selection.

Because Pasaol, Payawal, and Verano were on Pampanga’s 22-man roster before the season, the Giant Lanterns were able to sign them during the transfer window. The three athletes are returning to the MPBL.

The Giant Lanterns, who are currently in fourth position in the Northern Division with a 13-4 win-loss record, are competing after winning their second consecutive championship with Justine Baltazar’s team the previous season.

They trail San Juan, Abra, and undefeated Nueva Ecija.

Meanwhile, Basilan outbid Cebu, another MPBL team, to sign Slaughter.

Greg Slaughter, a free agency center, was signed by the Basilan Red Dynasty a few days after talks with Mikey Williams broke down.

Slaughter joined the team that features former PBA players Arwind Santos, Jervy Cruz, and Alex Cabagnot after reportedly being courted by his hometown MPBL team, Cebu Greats.

Jackson Chua, owner of the Red Dynasty squad, told SPIN.ph that they signed Slaughter in the hopes that the 7-0 slotman would increase their chances of qualifying for the playoffs by helping his team reach their peak performance in the regional league.

With an 8-8 win-loss record and a tie with the Ilagan Isabela Cowboys, Basilan is now ranked 17th–18th in the MPBL standings.

Chua stated that other teams, including Cebu and his previous ballclub Manila, were also pursuing Slaughter. “We’re just happy that we were able to get him to sign the contract,”

Initial discussions between the former University of the Visayas star and Cebu were halted at the last minute when the Greats’ current sponsor stopped supporting the squad.

Cebu struggled with its players under the new management, and it only had six players left to compete.

Since then, Cebu’s MPBL team has undergone a significant makeover and is now known as the Greats.

Chua, meantime, announced that they had begun negotiations with Williams, one of the league’s top scorers who has been a major issue for both its new rights holder Converge FiberXers and its former squad TNT.

Chua is hopeful that Basilan can eventually climb over the.5 level in the rankings with Slaughter, Santos, Cruz, and Cabagnot.