![TNT imports Rondae Hollis-Jefferson from Tropang GIga's EASL home game.](https://sports.inquirer.net/files/2023/11/A7400767-620x413.jpg)
TNT imports Rondae Hollis-Jefferson from Tropang GIga’s EASL home game. – CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
STA. ROSA, Laguna – Rondae Hollis-Jefferson is questionable for Sunday’s PBA Commissioner’s Cup opener against Magnolia due to an illness, prompting TNT to immediately look for a temporary replacement.
Coach Jojo Lastimosa said the Tropang Giga are rushing to find a temporary replacement for Hollis-Jefferson, who skipped their East Asian Super League home loss to the Chiba Jets here due to gastroenteritis.
“Rondae has been sick for a while,” Lastimosa said after the 75-66 loss at City of Sta. Rosa multifunctional complex. “He is so much better now, but we didn’t expect this.”
Lastimosa added that Quincy Miller, the other reinforcement used solely for the EASL campaign, was tapped as a potential sub for Hollis-Jefferson, but claimed his release was not granted by Converge.
![TNT Tropang Giga vs Chiba Jets in EASL](https://sports.inquirer.net/files/2023/11/A7400834-620x413.jpg)
TNT Tropang Giga vs Chiba Jets in EASL. – CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Miller played for Converge in the Commissioner’s Cup last season, but his stint ended on a sour note when coach Aldin Ayo benched him for one game for disciplinary reasons.
‘Converge won’t release me. I don’t know why,” Miller said.
Miller finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds against Chiba and would have been a logical option for TNT.
Time is of the essence for the Tropang Giga, who will be hoping to open the new season on the right track against a Hotshots side billed as one of the favourites, especially after missing all eleven matches in the PBA On Tour a few months ago had won.
“It’s still questionable, we don’t know yet,” Lastimosa said. But we are waiting for Rondae to get better and we don’t want to put him on the ground 100 percent because this could harm him in the long term.
“So we’ll do it conservatively and bring in another guy so we can import on Sunday,” he added.