ARWIND SANTOS

The suspense over the future of Arwind Santos is over after Burger King finally dealt its prolific forward to San Miguel Beer in exchange for three players.

The 6-foot-4 Santos has been the subject of trade the past two weeks but Lito Alvarez, the Whopper’s team governor and the incoming PBA chairman, only confirmed it on Tuesday after both parties sealed the negotiation Monday night.

In return, Burger King, according to Alvarez, got power forward Marc Pingris and sophomore Ken Bono, a 6-foot-6 center.

BK also got San Miguel’s first round pick in the 2010 PBA Rookie Draft.

“The reason lang na-tagalan itong negotiation is we want a draft pick, not a player sa package because we already have 17 players including the three picks we’ll have in this Sunday’s Draft,” Alvarez told the Bulletin. Santos was the first round pick of the Bert Lina-owned franchise (second overall) in the 2006 Draft.

Pingris was also an original member of the team being the third overall pick in the Draft four seasons back. He played for one season for the team before being shipped to Purefoods. He was then traded to San Miguel last year.

Bono, a one-time UAAP Most Valuable Player (MVP), first played for Alaska before he was traded to SMB.

Meantime, as far as Burger King coach Yeng Guiao is concerned, choosing Japeth Aguilar as the top overall selection in the PBA Rookie Draft is a no-brainer.

“As a coach, that’s a no-brainer. Japeth is the No. 1 pick and he’s going to dominate the league in one or two years as soon as he gains his basketball instincts and improve his judgement,” Guiao said on Tuesday.

“In terms of athletic ability, I think wala ma-match sa kanya, either now or before. Wala pang malaking bigman na may ganung klaseng athleticism,” he added.