Projected PBA top pick Justine Baltazar scraps draft, stays with Gilas

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

 

A projected top-three candidate in the upcoming PBA draft, De La Salle Green Archers’ superstar big man Justine Baltazar will stay with the Gilas program and will skip the 2021 rookie selection event.

The 6-foot-8 versatile center is a projected top-three prospect alongside Jamie Malonzo and Joshua Munzon or he might even go higher than the third overall pick.

Also, Baltazar still has a year left with the Green Archers and he promised to play it out and stay with the team as their best player.

“Hindi muna po ako sasali sa draft. Dito muna ako sa Gilas habang wala pang liga,” said the mainstay center of the current roster of the Gilas Pilipinas.

Aside from completing his final playing year with the white and green, Baltazar has become one of the most talented members of the Gilas pool since the Manama bubble.

In PH’s two-game sweep against the veteran Thailand team, Baltazar averaged an impressive 7.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 2.0 steals.

Gilas Program Director Coach Tab Baldwin expressed how he admired Baltazar’s game and described him as one of the most versatile big men who can post-up, shoot, and deliver dimes in the passing lanes to feed open shooters.