Patricia Hizon broke news of the blockbuster trade on Twitter this morning: Alaska sent two-time PBA Most Valuable Player Willie Miller to Ginebra in exchange for the electric Cyrus Baguio.

Alaska coach Tim Cone told the Manila Bulletin that Miller had wanted out of the team for the last two years, but the Aces didn’t bite until this offer came along.

My first thought after hearing the news was that it felt like another Wacky Trade for Alaska. Credentials-wise, Ginebra seems to have made out like bandits in the trade. Miller is the best player on Alaska, and was the main man of a team that made two straight Philippine Cup finals appearances. Baguio, meanwhile, had been relegated to a backup job in Ginebra’s crowded backcourt, playing behind Mark Caguioa, Ronald Tubid, and JC Intal.

But a closer look at the basketball merits of the trade reveals that it isn’t quite as simple. Miller, who played heavy minutes (more than 35 per game in the Fiesta Conference) as Alaska’s top gun, will be joining a Ginebra line-up that, with reigning MVP Jayjay Helterbrand, has enough guards to open a security agency. It remains to be seen how Miller will adjust to a smaller role; even when he played with loaded teams with Red Bull and Talk N Text, he always was a main focus of the offense, something that doesn’t look likely with Ginebra. He will also be forced to play more minutes at the point guard spot, which he can do, but it’s not his ideal position. Miller is also older than Baguio, and his transfer adds years to a nearly geriatric Ginebra squad.

(By the way, I don’t think Ginebra is done trading.)

At first glance, Cyrus Baguio seems like an odd fit for Alaska, which features a plodding offensive attack anchored on floor spacing, outside shooting, and pounding the ball down low. Alaska’s vaunted triangle is predicated on getting the best possible shot in the halfcourt, while lulling their opponents to sleep with crisp passes that swing the ball from the strong side to the weak side.

But Alaska didn’t always play this way. In fact, Tim Cone’s earliest PBA teams were run-and-gun machines. They played such an exciting style that the television panel unofficially dubbed them the Alaska Air Force, which is a much cooler nickname than their current one, by the way. Their best player happened to be Paul Alvarez who, like Baguio, was blessed with a lightning-quick first step, mad hops, and a ridiculous ability to make twisting layups in the air. In one Ginebra broadcast last conference, Quinito Henson said that Baguio is the new Samboy Lim, which is wrong in so many ways, not least of which is the fact that Skyrus’ game is heir not to the Skywalker, but to Mr. Excitement. Let’s just hope Baguio doesn’t end up getting shot outside a seedy sauna with Allen Sasan.

I’m frankly excited about Cyrus Baguio raising hell on the break all game once again, and here’s hoping Cone loosens the reins. They have a recipe to do it too, with big guys in Sonny Thoss and Samigue Eman to control the boards and a dynamic point guard in LA Tenorio who could push the ball like the wind.

So right now, I think this trade will end up favoring Alaska. Then again, while Alaska team manager Joaqui Trillo has made a lot of good trades for his team, his record hasn’t been perfect. In 2000, Alaska traded former MVP Johnny Abarrientos to Pop Cola (later Coca-Cola), figuring that the star point guard’s career was on the way down, but it wasn’t, as Abarrientos ended up leading the Tigers to a couple of championships.

So how will the trade shake out? We’ll get our first look this coming Friday, as Alaska faces Ginebra in the main game of the PBA.