In the middle of a controversy surrounding their draft and trade choices, Kia Picanto has announced their acquisitions for the coming season.

The Kia Picanto basketball team have chosen three fresh talents to invigorate and bolster their lineup in the later rounds of the 2018 PBA Draft in Robinsons Place Manila last October 29.

Columbian Autocar Corporation (CAC), the exclusive distributor of Kia vehicles in the Philippines, is hoping that the acquisition of Chris de Chavez, Arvie Bringas and Christian Geronimo in the third, fourth and fifth rounds respectively will help the team in their campaign in the upcoming PBA season.

The 6’2” De Chavez won two UAAP championships as a member of the Ateneo Blue Eagles. He was a product of one of the top High School basketball programs in the US before taking his chances in his home country.

De Chavez impressed the Picanto coaching staff at the PBA Draft Combine with his accurate outside shooting. Pundits have tagged him as possibly the purest shooter in this year’s draft class. Kia Picanto coach Chris Gavina will be looking to his namesake to stretch the floor and to create space for his teammates.

After stepping away from competitive basketball for a couple of years, the former high school and collegiate standout Arvie Bringas is finally making his way into the big leagues by way of the Kia Picanto.

Bringas was one of the key players in leading the San Sebastian College – Recoletos Stags to a four-peat in the NCAA juniors’ tournament, winning Finals MVP in 2008. In his collegiate career, he suited up for La Salle and later on for FEU in the UAAP. Bringas played for a couple of seasons in the PBA D-League before becoming sidelined by an untimely knee injury.

At 6’5”, Bringas will beef up the Picanto’s frontline and despite being a rookie, will bring valuable experience and maturity to the team.

Christian Geronimo was a surprise pick by Kia in the final round of the draft. Of the 44 applicants, Geronimo might have been the least known, not having played in any major basketball tournament at either the collegiate or amateur level. The 5’11” guard jumped around four schools before applying for selection into the PBA. He won over the Picanto coaching staff with his effort and enthusiasm in the league’s draft combine.

With these additions, the Picanto will look to improve on their performance from the previous season and show-off the position-less style of basketball espoused by Gavina and new team manager and former national team coach, Joe Lipa.

Gavina expressed his hopeful outlook after the draft, “The hardest thing for us last year is we never really built team chemistry,” he shared. “I think this year with a prolonged preseason, I can already see a difference in the way guys are playing and training hard to really have a big turnaround for next season. I’m really looking forward to this challenge.”