Free agency was first initiated by the late former PBA chairman Ely Capacio so that they will still have choices with their basketball career path.

“Para sa mga players ‘to. Dati, sinasabi ng mga fans na papaano makakaalis ‘yan eh may rights lagi ang teams. Eto, may free agency na,” commissioner Willie Marcial explained.

However, the commissioner shared that the downside of the new development is the tendency of the players not being recruited by the team and there are no definite means to stay with their respective teams.

“Ang disadvantage lang ng players, ‘yun nga — sige, free agent muna ako, hindi muna ako pipirma. Sugal mo ‘yun. Gamble mo ‘yun, kasi kung walang kumuha sa ‘yo, babalik ka doon. Eh kung hindi ka na kunin? So sugal ‘yun,” he explained.

Nevertheless, Marcial affirmed that there is no problem at the moment but the league will intervene once there would be issues that could affect the league.

“‘Pag nakita natin na disadvantage sa liga, or kung parang lugi ang liga, or pangit tingnan, ire-revisit namin. Ire-revisit ng board, ire-revisit namin kung anong maganda para sa liga,” he said. 

“As of now, okay naman. Wala namang problema.”