Until the conclusion of the current MPBL season, Justine Baltazar is not the only member of the Pampanga Giant Lanterns roster that will play for the team.
Baltazar, Brandon Ramirez, Kurt Reyson, and Ronan Santos will also be playing out their live contracts with the Giant Lanterns before joining the PBA teams who drafted them, the ballclub announced on Facebook.
The social media post effectively declared that Baltazar would play for Converge exclusively following the conclusion of Pampanga’s MPBL campaign. 

Baltazar may join the team as late as December if they make it to the finals, but Converge picked him number one in the PBA Draft. In advance of their game against Binan on Wednesday, the Giant Lanterns hold a 16-1 win-loss record.

NLEX and Meralco, respectively, selected Ramirez and Reyson at No. 18 and No. 23 in the second round.

Santos was the first pick in the third round and was chosen by Converge at No. 25, setting up a potential PBA reunion with Baltazar.

Baltazar, who is averaging 14.5 points, 14.5 rebounds, 6.1 assists, and 1.2 steals, is poised to win the MVP award for the second consecutive season in the MPBL.

For the Giant Lanterns, Reyson is averaging 8.7 points, good for fourth place on the squad behind only Baltazar, Archie Concepcion, and Encho Serrano. He also contributes 4.9 rebounds and 4.8 assists.

Ramirez joined the Giant Lanterns after the PBA 3×3 was shut down, and at the time of posting, he has only appeared in four games.

Meanwhile, Roger Pogoy supplied the lighthearted entertainment for the PBA draft on Sunday at the Glorietta in Makati.

In charge of declaring TNT’s first draft choice in the third round (choose number 31 overall), the seasoned gunner brought up a very well known name that is not necessary on the draft list.

Pogoy purposefully called out the name of Boston Celtics standout Jaylen Brown rather than Jared Brown.

“The TNT Tropang Giga selected Jaylen Brown…ay Jared Brown pala,” as he took the house down, the 32-year-old Cebuano remarked.

Naturally, the 27-year-old Brown won Finals MVP of the most recent NBA Championship series after he and Jayson Tatum helped the Boston Celtics defeat the Dallas Mavericks to win a record 18 titles.

“Champion na kami nito” was his terse response.

When Pogoy was asked about his practical joke, he also burst out laughing.
Regretfully, the rookie was not present; instead, Rey Nambatac, a recent TNT acquisition, represented Brown on stage and accepted the customary cap and team jersey.

Pogoy, Poy Erram, Glenn Khobuntin, coach Chot Reyes, deputies Sandy Arespacochaga and Yuri Escueta, and team manager Jojo Lastimosa were all there on behalf of TNT.

While not quite as good as the Boston Celtics mainstay, Brown, who is five feet ten inches tall, has shown that he can shoot the ball.
During his one and only season at Ateneo, he averaged 9.8 points, 2.3 assists, and 1.7 rebounds. He demonstrated his scoring ability by finishing in the 20s in multiple Blue Eagles games.