PBA welcomes Converge after acquiring Alaska franchise

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

The Converge ITC Solutions, a telecommunications service provider company, will become the PBA’s newest team after acquiring the Alaska Aces’ franchise.

Converge’s addition to the PBA has been made official after the league board’s 11-0 decision of them taking over Alaska as it bade goodbye to the league after 35 illustrious seasons.

After the voting, former PBA commissioner and newly-appointed Converge governor Chito Salud formally announced their approval of participation as the newest team in the league.

The press conference was also attended by current PBA commissioner Willie Marcial and Alaska representative Dickie Bachmann.

Salud shared that the Converge basketball franchise vows to put up one of the strongest teams in the PBA that could compete against the best teams and aim for the coveted championship.

However, Salud also explained that they will still undergo the first stages of how new franchises adapt in joining the biggest professional league in the country including salary management to their players, staff, and coaches.

Also, Salud and the rest of the Converge will still conduct a series of meetings regarding their roster composition and announced that they are still not sure if the whole Alaska roster will be retained.

“We have barely three months to prepare for the next season and I will be working closely with Dickie Bachmann on this. Together we’ll review and assess the performance of the players and the coaches, and make a decision soon,” said Salud.

Before their final buzzer sounded in the PBA, Alaska had a decent season after qualifying in the playoffs but eventually fell in the quarterfinal round.

Alaska was led by Jeron Teng, Maverick Ahanmisi, Allyn Bulanadi, RK Ilagan, Abu Tratter, Ben Adamos, and Mike Digregorio and were mentored by head coach Jeff Cariaso.