TNT Tropang Giga is a tough situation in itself.
They are the flagship franchise of The MVP Group. Unlike on the SMC side, TNT is the undisputed star, especially since it's their only team to have actual MVPs (Asi Taulava and Jimmy Alapag) and championships.
I don't know if TNT is their biggest name in terms of branding. A household can't live without Meralco, and I find the evolution of NLEX a good thing.
Heck, TNT is just Smart Lite. If they combine the two entities, Smart is the brand they need to move forward with.
In the PBA landscape, TNT is their main team.
But nowadays, it's not the case.
I said this because, for some reason, their roster isn't as scary as they once were. If you remember their almost grand slam run, Kelly Williams had to take a backseat on offense.
At the moment, K-Will averaged 9.7ppg - his best scoring average since moving to TNT in the middle of the 2009-10 PBA season.
And yeah, he just turned 42 years old.
What the hell?
It's insane that TNT drew an average of 24 points per game from a 37-year-old Jayson Castro and a 42-year-old Williams in the 2023-24 Philippine Cup. Yes, Calvin Oftana posted insane numbers, and ditto for RR Pogoy, but their Top 5 to 8 scorers comprised Glenn Khobuntin, Kim Aurin, Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser, and Henry Galinato. Five seasons ago, they had a stacked roster that included Troy Rosario, Don Trollano, Jericho Cruz, Anthony Semerad, and the soon-to-retire versions of Ryan Reyes, Harvey Carey, Jay Washington, and Williams.
Again, Williams is now one of the team's top performers with Reyes still on the bench.
Either Machine Gun found the Fountain of Youth, or TNT is regretting that they constantly threw away their draft picks.
It's almost 15 years in the making. TNT lost their draft advantage after the 2008 PBA Draft where they got Jared Dillinger, Jayson Castro, and Rob Reyes as the second, third, and fourth picks. In 2010, TNT traded Elmer Espiritu to Alaska for Larry Fonacier. This is a great swap with The Baby-Faced Assassin becoming one of their major cogs in their almost-grand slam run. With that said, their top picks have become scarce.
Here's a breakdown from the 2011 PBA Draft to the 2015 PBA Draft.
2011 | TNT TRADES NUMBER 10 PICK TO BARAKO BULL - DYLAN ABABOU
2012 | TNT TRADES NUMBER 10 PICK TO GLOBALPORT - JASON DEUTCHMAN
2013 | TNT TRADES NUMBER 7 PICK TO GLOBALPORT - ISAAC HOLSTEIN 2014 | TNT TRADES NUMBER 8 PICK TO BARAKO BULL - JAKE PASCUAL
2015 | TNT TRADES NUMBER 8 PICK TO BLACKWATER - ARTHUR DELA CRUZ
Now, I can give TNT a pass in 2015, seeing that they swapped their first-round pick for the eventual top pick that turned into Mo Tautuaa. Furthermore, they managed to dupe Mahindra by obtaining the draft rights of Troy Rosario. In 2016, for some insane reason, TNT, the supposed last pick as per the team standings, got RR Pogoy because the other teams picked Fonso Gotladera. No offense to the former UAAP star but aside from the fact that he was a last-minute addition in the special round, all eyes were definitely on the FEU quintet in the draft.
Anyway, the last time TNT had multiple first-round picks was in the 2017 PBA Draft. We always talk about the bad 2000 PBA Draft. While that draft had a lot of first-round duds, that season produced a lot of great rookies, mostly direct hires from the MBA, as well as the team option of getting a direct-hire Fil-Am. This draft though, was equally abysmal, with TNT settling on Mark Tallo at the tenth spot and Jonjon Gabriel as the eleventh selection. Tallo only played two games for TNT while Gabriel was left to drift in free agency, fortunately landing onto Terrafirma for 16 games.
Mikey Williams is the last first-round pick they selected, and we know how Williams thinks more like an import than a local player.
At the moment, Blackwater had already used the TNT 2024 first-round pick nicely when they sent it to Rain or Shine for disgruntled star Rey Nambatac. Furthermore, they already lost their 2025 first-round pick when they took Galinato from Rain or Shine and subsequently, they have also lost their 2026 first-round pick to Blackwater again as compensation for the three-way trade that sent Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser to TNT and Ato Ular to NLEX.
I don't know if they can still get Troy Rosario from Blackwater again, or if Poy Erram is finally available to play. In some ways, TNT struck gold with Kim Aurin, but again, they took Rain or Shine's second-rounder in Galinato, for their first-round pick.
The good thing for TNT is that they have Chot Reyes as coach, and he will find a way to make the team better. And while I doubt if they can lure Bobby Ray Parks, they should make a play for Greg Slaughter. The MPBL might have fans, but their teams are also susceptible to a lot of shady situations.
I can still see TNT giving away their 2027 first-round pick though. Chot, Castro, Williams, and even the team itself for that matter, has a built-in win-now mindset. Not only can't they fall in the standings as they are the "San Miguel" of the MVP side, rebuilding in some ways, is a sign of defeat, at least for this particular time. I know TNT has already admitted that they are doing such, but they can just hide this under the guise that Chot has yet to enjoy a full-season run as the team's comeback coach.
With that said, like most NBA win-now teams, their choices have made their team vulnerable. Unless they blatantly rob the second-tier teams with all their talents, making the PBA even more unwatchable in the process, expect TNT to cede their flagship spot to their more able mates like Meralco.
If you look at Meralco's roster, it looks basic, but they acquired Chris Newsome, Aaron Black, Cliff Hodge, Bong Quinto, and Anjo Caram from the draft, Raymond Almazan, Chris Banchero, and Allein Maliksi from team-friendly swaps, and are still with their 2024, 2025, 2026, and 2027 first-round picks.
In some ways, former coach and team consultant Norman Black and current team manager Paolo Trillo did well in terms of keeping the squad where they are now.
So there.