The Northport Batang Pier and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings swapped big men in a Philippine Basketball Association deal announced on Friday.
A trade long talked about, the one-to-one exchange had Christian Standhardinger going from the Batang Pier to the Kings for Greg Slaughter. The swap was approved by the league the previous day.
Mr. Standhardinger, 31, joins a Barangay Ginebra team fresh from its conquest of the Philippine Cup in the lone PBA tournament in 2020.
The 2017 top overall rookie pick is expected to provide flexibility in the frontcourt of the Kings with his ability to play multiple positions as well as adding firepower.
In the PBA “bubble” tournament last year, 6’8” Standhardinger tallied double-double averages of 19.9 points and 12 rebounds for the Batang Pier. He peppered it with 3.8 assists and 1.3 steals in 10 games.
His transfer to Barangay Ginebra marks a return for him to the San Miguel group where he began his PBA career after being drafted by the Beermen four years ago.
Mr. Standhardinger was shipped by San Miguel to Northport midseason in 2019.
In trading Mr. Standhardinger, the Batang Pier cited “contract issue” as a reason.
With the Filipino-German player not signing up yet with the team, they felt they needed to move and look elsewhere.
Meanwhile, seven-footer Slaughter, 32, will try to start fresh with Northport after seeing his six-year relationship with the Kings come to an end.
He took a sabbatical from basketball last year but it came amid reports of plans of the team trading him away.
Mr. Slaughter recently joined the Kings after going to the United States to work on his game.
While with Barangay Ginebra he averaged 13.8 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.2 blocks and helped the team win four league titles.
“[It’s] a good trade, beneficial to both teams. The team is thrilled to have him (Slaughter) in the team knowing he worked hard in the US to polish his game,” Northport said in a statement.