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TNT Tropang Giga sign Dave Marcelo, Ping Exciminiano to free agent contracts

Free agents Dave Marcelo and Ping Exciminiano will be signing a two-year and one-year deal, respectively, with the TNT Tropang Giga, the team announced on Friday.

Marcelo, who last played with the Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters, played 15 games for the team inside the bubble in Clark, Pampanga, with averages of 1.7 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 0.9 blocks per game.

The team believes that Marcelo's inside-out play will be beneficial to the team moving forward.

"Dave's intimidating presence, outside shooting and solid defense will be of great help to TNT Tropang GIGA," said team manager Gabby Cui.

Marcelo was drafted 12th overall by Barako Bull out of San Beda College in 2012. After three years with the team, he was traded to Barangay Ginebra, where he was a part of the 2016 Governors' Cup championship squad.

The burly forward then played for the Blackwater Elite before before going to the NLEX Road Warriors. Marcelo was then traded to Phoenix, along with Alex Mallari, in exchange for the fourth pick of the 2018 PBA Rookie Draft.

Defensive ace Exciminiano was the second cager to be signed by TNT on Friday, inking a one-year deal with the Tropang Giga, according to agent Danny Espiritu.

Exciminiano was relegated to the unrestricted free agent list by Rain or Shine in early 2020 after suffering an Achilles tear during an unsanctioned game commonly known as ligang labas in January.

The Tropang Giga earlier signed free agent Glenn Khobuntin to a one-year deal and point guard Almond Vosotros and center Lervin Flores to one-year extensions.