Chris McCullough as Gilas Naturalized Player: "There's an Interest"

Sure, Gilas Pilipinas did a great job in beating Indonesia last Sunday without a naturalized player. But in the eyes of the SBP, this isn't simply about qualifying for the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup. This is about making sure that Gilas Pilipinas will be able to field a well-trained and competitive line-up in time for the 2023 FIBA World Cup in which the Philippines will be one of the host countries alongside Indonesia and Japan. And while the notion that our national team should focus on honing the skills of our homegrown players makes sense, it won't hurt our team's chances of making past the group stage of the World Cup if we have a naturalized player who has been training with the team prior to 2023.

And fortunately, the SBP has a pool of potential naturalized players to choose from.

Right now, two House bills were filed by two separate members of Congress which aim to give Philippine citizenship to two players by undergoing the naturalization process. Those players are Justin Brownlee and Angelo Kouame. Brownlee, of course, is the resident import of the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings while Kouame is the anchor of the defense of the Ateneo Blue Eagles in the UAAP.

And no, Brownlee and Kouame aren't the only ones being considered to replace Andray Blatche. 

Also among those who are "interested" to wear the colors of the flag is Chris McCullough- the one who replaced Charles Rhodes as the import of the San Miguel Beermen in last year's Commissioner's Cup. That is according to none other than SBP president Al Panlilio.

Panlilio recently bared the information that the SBP has been communicating with McCullough who also had a short stint in the NBA, and that McCullough has shown interest in joining the national team program. However, Panlilio also pointed out that even though there's "interest" from the part of McCullough, nothing is official yet as both parties will have to work on many things including naturalizing McCullough. 

Question: why Chris McCullough is the ideal player to replace Andray Blatche as Gilas Pilipinas' naturalized player?

According to Panlilio, McCullough, who led the Beermen to the Commissioner's Cup championship last year, is the perfect example of a modern big man who can shoot and make threes, a valuable asset on the defensive end, and is athletic. Considering how many threes McCullough made in the PBA last year, he could be a potential problem for Gilas' opponents. That, if he gets naturalized. 

Photo is from ESPN