Yap-Lee trade: Will Star and ROS benefit?

A surprising news hit the online community as two former University of the East (UE) stars were being traded between the two ex-champion teams in the said league.

And it is between James Yap and Paul Lee.

Too many facebook subscribers have shared about this big news on the move done by the Star Hotshots and the Rain or Shine ElastoPainters.

Will both teams benefit from this trade?

As we all know, Yap, given the monicker "The Big Game", had brought too many championships for the former Purefoods team since the departure of Alvin Patrimonio. 

Though they were both the big guns that a team should really have, the only difference is Yap is on the edge of his professional career while Lee is still on his way at the peak of his journey in the PBA.

Yap, 34, already had enough with the Hotshots, from his rookie year, championship days with coach Ryan Gregorio, and his grand slam moments with most winningest coach Tim Cone.

It was reported in July 2016 that Yap is planning to hang up his jersey already, but no exact details were given when he is about to finalize his retirement.

On the other hand, Lee's stint with Rain or Shine gave him a big shot to make his name in the professional league, right after moving up to the PBA after his fast improvement in the UAAP, and despite his injury issues that he endured since college, he was able to provide enough strength for the ElastoPainters to be a consistent playoff contender in the league, which made his the team's "Lee-thal Weapon".

At age 27, Lee is still performing well, but there are times that he plays poorly, especially this Governor's Cup wherein they failed to take a spot in the playoffs after their loss against the Eugene Phelps-led Phoenix squad.

And with this trade, it was reported earlier that Lee was "shocked" upon the decision of the ROS management to part ways with him, but still hopeful that he will be able to help the Hotshots team on rebuilding right after Tim Cone left the team after giving them a grand slam.

In the end, it will be a big adjustment for the Star because they still have a lot guards including RR Garcia, PJ Simon, Justin Melton, and Mark Barroca.

Hotshots head coach Jason Webb would really have to make a decision to make whether he will give up some of his guards, or he'll provide a new strategy for the team to equally distribute minutes of play to his players.

And for James Yap, with his experience and skills, he could also provide spark for the ElastoPainters, yet he could mentor the younger members like Jericho Cruz,Maverick Ahanmisi, and Josan Nimes, especially in this time wherein coach Yeng Guiao surprisingly left the team and moved to the NLEX Road Warriors.

So if we're going to look on the brighter side, both teams will benefit on the said trade that just happened earlier, it will just require a big adjustment for the both squads in order to make this trade an effective one.