While the heated semifinals battle in the PBA Philippine Cup rages on, Alaska quietly made a move to bolster its frontline by plucking little-used Samigue Eman from San Miguel’s reserve list. While the center wouldn’t be able to suit up for the Aces until the next conference, the foxiness of the move wasn’t lost on basketball fans that saw the center play in the PBL, before he got injured prior to joining the PBA draft.

In Eman, Alaska gets a young center who boasts not just untapped potential, but who showed surprising athleticism and a nasty edge during his PBL days with Welcoat/Rain or Shine. Alaska team manager Joaqui Trillo compares Eman favorably with Alaska’s all-star center Sonny Thoss.

The transaction is just another in a long line of savvy moves for the Aces. While the team’s record isn’t perfect when it comes to developing players, the team’s brain trust led by Trillo and coach Tim Cone make it a point to try to find players who will fit into the team’s system. Sometimes, it doesn’t pan out – I always wondered why guys like Brixter Encarnacion, Don Camaso, and Aaron Aban didn’t mesh with the system – but more often than not, it works. It’s no coincidence that the franchise has made it to the semifinals of the all-Filipino conference 4 times in the last 5 years.

So despite not having the resources of the richer SMC teams or Talk N Text, the Aces have managed to be consistently successful. How do they do it? With trades like these:

Year	Trade	Notes
1991	Elmer Cabahug to Purefoods for Jojo Lastimosa	Cabahug had three great seasons with Purefoods that included two All-Filipino crowns, but these were marred by salary issues. Lastimosa was the leader of the Alaska franchise for the next decade, and ended the ‘90s with 10 championships (9 with Alaska).
1994	Bong Alvarez to Sta. Lucia for Bong Hawkins	Alaska traded away troubled superstar Alvarez for Hawkins, the third member of its vaunted triangle along with Lastimosa and Johnny Abarrientos. Alvarez got into more trouble in his stint with Sta. Lucia, when he hooked up with Vivian Velez, got injured, hung out with Benjie Paras in the US, and asked for a trade to Shell to hang out with his buddy. That didn’t work out either.
1995	Bong Solomon to Ginebra for the draft pick that turned out to be Jeffrey Cariaso	After getting traded to Ginebra, the team discovered that Solomon was legally blind. He might have still been a better player than Dudut Jaworski though.
1997	Cris Bolado to Purefoods for Rodney Santos and Bryant Punzalan	While Cris Bolado won a championship for Purefoods as a lucky charm backup to Jerry Codinera, Santos (whose awful nickname ‘The Slasher’ was coined by our favorite Quinito Henson) was an integral part of Alaska’s late ‘90s championship run, usually playing point guard in Tim Cone’s big backcourt set.
1997	Dwight Lago and Boyet Fernandez to Pop Cola for Kenneth Duremdes	Alaska lost Cariaso left for Mobiline that season for a more lucrative offer, but the Milkmen stole Duremdes, then a backup to Vergel Meneses at Pop, in a late season trade. Alaska subsequently won the next three conference championships with Duremdes in its lineup.
2003	Kenneth Duremdes to Sta. Lucia for Brandon Cablay	The shocker of the 2003 draft saw Alaska trading its top gun in exchange for a draft pick. But the move gave the Aces financial flexibility to stock up on talent, while Duremdes’ massive contract became an albatross for Sta. Lucia, who didn’t win a championship until after they traded Duremdes to Coke four years later.
2005	John Arigo and Ali Peek to Coca-Cola for Jeffrey Cariaso and Reynel Hugnatan	Alaska looked like they got the short end of the stick, talent-wise, in this trade. But Cariaso’s leadership was a boon for the team’s chemistry, and Hugnatan has transformed into one of Alaska’s most important players as a frontcourt Swiss army knife for Tim Cone off the bench.
2006	Don Allado to Talk N Text for Willie Miller and John Ferriols	At the time, Talk N Text coach Derrick Pumaren justified this trade because it allowed his team to acquire Renren Ritualo. Okaay. Since the trade, Miller has been the Aces’ franchise player.
2008	Mike Cortez and Ken Bono to San Miguel for LA Tenorio and Larry Fonacier	While Mike Cortez has been a solid backup point guard for the Beermen, no one’s comparing him to Johnny Abarrientos. Meanwhile, Tenorio’s steady improvement has people gushing about him as potentially the best point guard in the league since the Flying A.

Of course, not all trades are lopsided: Johnny Abarrientos and Poch Juinio to Coca-Cola for Ali Peek and Jon Ordonio was alright for Alaska, but keyed the 2003 All-Filipino title for Coke. Its 2006 swap with San Miguel involving Brandon Cablay and Nic Belasco was a push, as neither player stayed long for either team. The 2008 trade for Mark Borboran in exchange for JR Quinahan looks pretty even, with each player contributing for his new team, as is the trade with Rain or Shine that featured Joe Devance for Sol Mercado and Eddie Laure. Still, you can’t say that Alaska got fleeced in any of these trades.

Ten years from now, when I become a billionaire and buy my own PBA team, the first rule for my team manager would be to never, ever trade with Joaqui Trillo.