The PBA has invited Gilas Pilipinas to play as a guest team and compete for a championship in the Philippine Cup of the 46th season slated to open this April.
Commissioner Willie Marcial said the suggestion was floated Monday in a meeting attended by the entire Board of Governors, including Meralco governor and concurrent Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) president Al Panlilio.
"The Board of Governors suggested to the SBP that Gilas should join in the first conference. If they don't have training or if they won't be playing anywhere, they can play in the PBA," he said.
Marcial also bared that the SBP will be submitting three to five names who will be added to the Gilas pool by way of the special draft to be held on Mar. 14. The federation will be forwarding the list later this week.
"SBP president Al said they'll get a minimum of three and a maximum of five players for the special draft. They'll give me the names within two to three days," he said.
The league will follow the same order in the regular draft. Terrafirma and NorthPort will draft at No. 1 and 2, respectively, followed by NLEX with picks No. 3 and 4 and by Rain or Shine at five.
If Gilas accepts the invite, expected to suit up alongside this year's draftees are the 2019 special draft selections Isaac Go, Rey Suerte, Allyn Bulanadi, and brothers Matt and Mike Nieto.
"Playing with us will be good since they'll gain experience, and fans will see how the whole team competes," said Marcial.
Northern Cement, coached by the late Ron Jacobs, is so far the only amateur team to compete for -- and win -- a PBA title. The team played in three conferences and ended up bagging the 1985 PBA Reinforced Conference title.
Headlining the team were the likes of amateur stars Allan Caidic, Yves Dignadice, Samboy Lim and Hector Calma, while imports Dennis Still and Jeff Moore reinforced the lineup.
SBP has not agreed to the join yet, though Marcial said the federation has until before the start of the season to make a decision.
"There's no commitment yet. Gilas has no plans yet. But at least we extended an invite," he said. "There's no deadline, but they'll probably have to give us an answer before April so we can sort out the schedule."