By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel just pulled off the biggest trade deal of the ongoing Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) off-season so far after shipping the dynamic star duo of Christian Standhardinger and Stanley Pringle to the Terrafirma Dyip confirmed on July 13, 2024.
In exchange for the services of the two veteran star players, Terrafirma will be trading their young big man Isaac Go, and the expected PBA Rookie of the Year Stephen Holt.
Both PBA franchises also exchanged their first-round Rookie Draft picks with Ginebra now earning rights to the third overall pick while Terrafirma fell to the 10th selection.
The major turnaround of events surprised the PBA as the duo of Standhardinger and Pringle brought back Ginebra’s lost glory since arriving with the franchise several years ago.
After two impressive stints with the San Miguel Beermen and the NorthPort Batang Pier, Standhardinger arrived in Ginebra during the 2021 PBA season and immediately made an impact in coach Tim Cone’s famous triangle offense.
Standhardinger quickly adapted to the system and thrived wearing the Ginebra uniform, steering them to two PBA championship titles, winning the Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) award when they won the 2022-2023 Commissioner’s Cup.
Meanwhile, Pringle, the athletic and aggressive attacking point guard who was acquired from NorthPort last 2019 PBA season, also helped the Gin Kings clinch some titles, winning four trophies with the franchise.
Pringle’s most memorable run with the Gin Kings was during the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup Conference as he won the Best Player Conference award.
On the other hand, Ginebra’s newest addition to its core, Go and Holt, maybe young in the PBA but already showed flashes of their potential when they led Terrafirma to a rare playoff qualification during the recently concluded Philippine Cup.
The 1-2 punch helped Terrafirma upset the powerhouse San Miguel Beermen in Game 1 to erase the latter’s twice-to-beat advantage but eventually fell in the next game.
Despite the loss, the performances of Go and Holt were notable enough to put their names in the league’s trade block, earning the nods of the top teams such as Ginebra.
Will Go and Holt help Ginebra get back to their playoff form? Or will Standhardinger and Pringle prove the Gin Kings wrong and create a new dynasty with the Terrafirma franchise?
