MANILA, Philippines — Converge is determined to make a big splash in its playoff bid as it has tapped seven-foot defensive big man Kylor Kelly as its import for the coming PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup.
The 28-year-old Kelly comes in with solid credentials, earning NBA G league All-Defensive team citation in 2024 while playing for the South Bay Lakers, and leading the league in blocked shots that season with 2.9 swats per contest.
The power-playing Kelly has earned a reputation on defense since his college days with Oregon State, where he was a two-time Pac-12 All-Defensive Team member in 2019 and 2020.
Kelly is expected to form a deadly front court triumvirate with local big men Justin Arana and Justine Baltazar, as the FiberXers are out to spoil the TNT Tropang 5G’s Commissioner’s Cup title defense in Season 50.
Of course, this early, TNT has been the talk of the town among netizens, having tapped the services of six-year NBA veteran Bol Bol, the 7-foot-3 South Sudan-American big man and son of the late NBA player, 7-foot-7 Manute Bol, then the tallest NBA player during the 1990s.
Converge has been tinkering on its roster in the conference break, recently adding veteran forward Calvin Abueva in a trade with Titan Ultra, while also adding depth with the acquisition of sophomore big man Jonnel Policarpio and guard Kurt Reyson in a separate trade early this week.
The FiberXers fell short of their semifinal aspirations, at least during the Philippine Cup after blowing a twice-to-beat edge, losing to the Barangay Ginebra Kings in their quarterfinal tussle.