There’s no arguing that Terrafirma Dyip’s second-year guard, CJ Perez, is among the most exciting talents in all of the PBA. He’s in that short list of local ballers that you’d really pay to see.

Perez, dubbed as Baby Beast, actually just jumped ahead of Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters swingman Matthew Wright in the points per game ladder yesterday. He scored a team-high 27 against the Blackwater Elite in a 110-101 victory, and is now at 25.7 PPG in the Philippine Cup.

It was the Dyip’s first win of the conference, though, and they are dead-last in the standings at 1-6 – a familiar territory.

With that, there’s also no denying the feeling that Perez is being wasted in Terrafirma, or that he may be unhappy about playing for the PBA’s whipping boys. In fact, the rumour of him prematurely leaving the team started as soon as he was drafted.

The hot gossip got splashed with gasoline yesterday too, when fans pointed Perez as the figure behind a PBA insider’s intriguing ‘blind item.’

Hopefully, you’ll noticed the nice little clue that was classically snuck in.

Teammates of this player are no longer happy with how this young kid misses usually easy shots in end game.

Yes, he gets his stats but eveyrone thinks he could give more.

Nonetheless, this kid is on his way to a grand slam contender team next year.

His trade has been discussed

— Snow Badua (@snowbadua) November 5, 2020

The player I am talking about also has problems dealing with media.

He hates them daw, wala siyang paki.

I hope this kids understands that di siya sisikat if not for those who write stories about him.

Yeah, he is a good player, but he is a Complete Jerk.

— Snow Badua (@snowbadua) November 5, 2020

Peep the replies. The guesses are pretty consensus.

Terrafirma is now on its sixth season in the PBA, and is one of the league’s youngest franchises. Like the other lower-billed teams, the group has also mightily struggled to be a contender.

In 15 total conferences across five full PBA seasons, Dyip has only managed to make the playoff once, and that was over four years ago. They have logged a losing record in nine-straight conferences and missed the postseason in that same consecutive stretch. Considering the aforementioned standings, it’s likely to be 10 by conference’s end.

Here’s another interesting nugget: In that horrendous span, the franchise has changed its name six times. Before being Terrafirma Dyip, they were also Kia Picanto, Kia Carnival, Mahindra Enforcer, Mahindra Floodbuster, Kia Picanto, and Columbian Dyip.

It’s probably a good indicator as to where the front office’s priorities are.

So, should we expect Perez to be traded soon? If so, to where?

Well, basing it off on previous cases, with Ray Parks being the most recent, it’s really easy to see someone like Perez be traded soon – maybe in the next year or so.

Losing is hard, and it gets more frustrating when your unpromising team is being endlessly bombarded with trade offers and pressure to offer more salary. Whoever’s at the center of those rumours may buy into his own hype too – understandably, of course.

If there’s a ‘CJ Perez Sweepstakes’ in the near future, we all have a clue as to who the most aggressive bidders will be, so brace yourselves.

–

Terrafirma Dyip will be back in action on Sunday, November 8th, against the Meralco Bolts at 1 PM. We’ll see if they can build something off their first win of the conference.