PBA: Petron replaces Fazekas, brings in Will McDonald

The Petron Blaze Boosters became the fifth team in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup to replace their import, cutting former NBA draft pick Nick Fazekas in favor of Will McDonald.   The team has yet to release a statement officially announcing the personnel change, but Fazekas himself admitted that he had been cut, while Spanish media confirmed the McDonald signing.   Fazekas tweeted out Saturday, “Well #petroniverse…I wanna thank y’all for all the love but my time is up!! Good luck to the team the rest of the way!!” and replied to an inquiring follower that he “got cut. 31n20 wasn’t good enough for these guys.”   Meanwhile, Spanish basketball site solobasket.com confirmed the McDonald signing, saying that McDonald decided not to push through with an offer Liga ACB team Caja Laboral in favor of coming to the Philippines.   A prolific scorer, Fazekas averaged 30.57 points on 50.93 percent shooting, along with 18.43 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.14 steals and 2.29 blocks in 41.57 minutes of play. Despite his outstanding numbers though, Petron managed just a 3-4 record and had lost two straight, placing them in danger of missing the post-season.   McDonald last played for the Chinese Basketball Association’s Fujian SBS Sturgeons, averaging 27.6 points and 9.9 rebounds. The University of South Florida grad made several NBA summer league squads but never fully caught on in the league, spending most of his career abroad.   Petron’s last two games of the elimination round come against the erratic Barako Bull Energy on March 21, and the defending champion Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters on March 28.   Other teams that have replaced their imports include Barangay Ginebra dropping fan-favorite Chris Alexander in favor of Jackson Vroman, and the Meralco Bolts going with Earl Barron after beginning the season with Jarrid Famous. Two other teams were forced to seek new imports after injuries downed their initial choices, namely the Barako Bull Energy tapping Rodney White after DerMarr Johnson’s injury, and Talk ‘N Text going with Donnell Harvey after Omar Samhan was rendered unavailable. - KBK, GMA News