San Miguel Beer is still in the middle of a championship series but its eyes are already focusing on the other things, such as getting forward Arwind Santos of Burger King in a blockbuster trade.

Santos denied being the subject of a trade although a few days ago, he said he learned of it being discussed by some close associates but received no feelers from either San Miguel or Burger King team officials.

“Sa totoo lang may mga naririnig nga ako na na-trade nga daw ako, pero mismong management, particularly si boss Lito (Alvarez), wala namang sinasabi sa akin,” Santos told the Bulletin by telephone Monday.

Calls to BK executive Alvarez for confirmation of the trade talks were not immediately returned.

But a person close to Santos confirmed that there are talks between Burger King and San Miguel, but the source, who asked not to be named since he is not authorized to discuss the details, said that the deal will be finalized after the current PBA finals series.

According to reports, Burger King already agreed in principle with San Miguel to deal Santos in exchange for three players, sophomores Kenneth Bono and Sam Eman, and veteran shooting guard Chris Calaguio.

Under league rules, teams playing in the conference playoffs are not allowed to make trades. SMB is playing in the Finals of the season-ending Motolite-PBA Fiesta Cup against sister-team Barangay Ginebra.

Santos said that while he wants to stay with Burger King, he understands the life of a professional player, saying: “Ganito talaga ang buhay namin sa PBA, basta kami makapag-pasaya ng tao, makapag-entertain. Ipakita talent namin.”

“Pero pagdating sa kontrata namin di namin hawak kasi ’yan. Basta kung saan kami na team laro lang kami, trabaho lang,” he added.

The 28-year-old native of Angeles City had a solid campaign in his third season in the PBA.

In the recent Leo Awards, the onetime Far Eastern University (FEU) stalwart made it to his second straight Mythical First Team selection, as well as the All-Defensive Team, exemplifying his all-around skills as a basketball player.

In the Philippine Cup, Air21 failed to advance to the quarters when it lost to San Miguel.

In the Fiesta Cup, however, after the change of name to Burger King, Santos helped the team claim a Final Four berth. They lost anew to SMB in six games of the best-of-seven series.