Barangay Ginebra on Thursday moved up in the second round of the upcoming PBA Rookie Draft by trading Jerrick Balanza and the No. 24 overall selection to NorthPort for the Batang Pier's No. 13 pick.
The league's trade committee has approved the deal, per the league's website.
This means the Gin Kings will draft consecutively after drafting last in the first round at No. 12. Ginebra initially had the last pick in the second round as well. The 13th pick was originally Terrafirma's but was dealt to NLEX in 2017. NLEX, in turn, traded the pick to NorthPort as part of a three-team trade in 2019.
NorthPort, meanwhile, now owns picks No. 2 and No. 11 in the first round as well as the No. 24 overall pick.
Balanza joins Greg Slaughter in NorthPort exactly a week after the 32-year-old big man was sent to the Batang Pier in exchange for Christian Standhardinger.
The former Letran guard played sparingly in the 2020 season but could see an uptick in minutes with NorthPort. Drafted by the Gin Kings with the 13th overall pick in the 2019 Draft, Balanza managed 1.0 point in 3.9 minutes of action in 10 games.