San Miguel Beer, the reigning Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup champion, acted swiftly after tasting its second defeat in three games in the Commissioner’s Cup.
The Beermen immediately cut Diamond Stone and replaced him with inside operator Devon Scott, a well-traveled 28-year-old forward.
Listed 6-foot-8, Scott is coming off a stint in Mexico.
“He’s already here,” San Miguel Beer team manager Gee Abanilla told Daily Tribune.
“We were studying our options and because with what happened with June Mar (Fajardo), we felt we needed a solid inside player to complement our local players.”
Fajardo underwent operation on his throat after he was accidentally hit by Rain or Shine import Steve Taylor Jr. and will be out for four to six weeks.
Without their main man in the middle, the Beermen felt they need an import change.
Stone is more of a stretch four and his game is designed to complement Fajardo, but the import had a lackadaisical showing in San Miguel’s 87-113 beat down at the hands of the visiting Bay Area Dragons.
He only produced 11 points on a paltry 5-of-18 shooting from the field, but more importantly, he was completely outplayed by his counterpart, National Basketball Association veteran Andrew Nicholson, who came away with 39 points and 12 rebounds while powering the Dragons to their fourth win in five games.
Scott will see action in the Beermen’s next game against Converge on Friday.
Abanilla said Scott will try to hold the fort as original import choice, Thomas Robinson, isn’t fit to play.