Since the end of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup, the Internet has been abuzz with blind items and rumors about trades that were being discussed by teams around the league. The first domino fell last night, as Waylon Galvez of the Manila Bulletin reports that the Alaska Aces have sent do-everything forward Joe Devance to the Air 21 Express in exchange for the talented if underachieving Jay-R Reyes, pending approval from Commissioner Chito Salud.

It was hardly any surprise that Devance had been traded. Multiple sources close to the team have told me that the player has long been unhappy with Alaska, and team manager Joaqui Trillo seemed to confirm this while talking about the trade. Said Trillo: “We decided to let go of Joe. Well, he wanted out, despite us giving him the maximum salary. He wanted to seek greener pasture.”

I heard that the situation was similar to that of former Alaska star Willie Miller, who also complained about his salary with Alaska despite already receiving the maximum allowed by the league. Some people openly wondered if Devance’s statement expressing his wish to volunteer to play for the national team, Smart Gilas, was really just a ploy for him to signal to the richer teams in the league that he wanted out of Alaska.

It’s curious that he ended up with Air 21, which is definitely not one of the richer teams in the league, although there has been talk that San Miguel Corporation is interested in buying the franchise. It’ll be interesting to see if Devance stays long with the team, or if he’ll be sent to the highest bidder as Air 21 has been wont to do.

It’s a bit of a surprise that the Aces weren’t able to get more from Devance, who had been one of the most productive players in the league the past two years. Wouldn’t a team with a lot of frontcourt shortcomings like Ginebra have been perfect for Devance? Isn’t a package of JC Intal and John Wilson from the Gin Kings a better deal for Alaska?

It’ll be very interesting to see how this trade affects Alaska on the basketball court. Devance hasn’t been a favorite among Alaska fans because of his lack of fire, and his perceived tendency to shrink in big games, but his versatile game was perfect for the team’s system, and that’s going to be really hard to replace. Reyes, meanwhile, has for years tantalized everyone with his potential, but he hasn’t been able to turn that into consistent production. Alaska fans are hoping that this will turn out to be another wacky move for the team.

Devance’s entry into Air 21 is interesting too, but it’s tempered by the fact that no one’s sure how long he’ll stay with the team. This has been the third major trade for the Express just this season, after midwifing the Sol Mercado deal, where they also acquired Reyes, before the start of the 2nd conference, and the big trade with San Miguel in the middle of the last tourney. What’s clear though is that this is just the beginning of a trading frenzy that will happen in the PBA in the weeks to come.