MANILA -- Barangay Ginebra head coach Tim Cone said the trade that sent Maverick Ahanmisi and Aljon Mariano to the Terrafirma Dyip was part of the business of basketball.
Hours before Ginebra's game on Wednesday, the PBA announced it approved the deal sending the two veterans to Terrafirma in exchange for the Dyip's Season 51 first round pick.
READ: Mav Ahanmisi, Aljon Mariano set for new beginnings with Terrafirma
After Ginebra trounced the TNT Tropang 5G in the PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup, Cone lauded Ahanmisi for his professionalism throughout the whole process.
"It was a situation where a veteran player like Maverick, you know, he's in the prime of his career. He wasn't satisfied backing up Scottie [Thompson] and RJ [Abarrientos] and so he requested a trade. And you know, we don't want hostages on our basketball team, we want volunteers and we're not going to hold anybody back if they want to move," Cone said.
READ: Huge first quarter fuels Ginebra's rout of TNT
Reports earlier said Ahanmisi himself requested to be traded by Ginebra.
He averaged 7.5 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in Season 49, playing backup to Scottie Thompson and RJ Abarrientos.
"The best thing about Maverick was that he was so incredibly professional through the whole process and so you know, he's an elite player. Everywhere he's gone -- whether it's been Rain or Shine or Blackwater or Converge or us -- he's been a he's been an elite player and he will continue to be," Cone added.
Maverick will be joining his younger brother Jerrick in Terrafirma, marking the first time the Ahanmisi siblings will be playing for one PBA team.
As for Mariano, Cone thanked him for his loyalty to the Gin Kings, after spending almost a decade with the team.
The University of Santo Tomas star has been seeing limited minutes with Ginebra due to injuries and the additions of Stephen Holt and Troy Rosario.
Cone is hopeful the abrupt move will help Mariano get back on track with his career.
"Aljon has been incredibly loyal for so many years with us. It was really hard seeing him go… He wasn't going to get the playing time here, backing up Troy and Stephen. So this will give him an opportunity to get out and kind of resuscitate his career," Cone said.
"But you know, we hated to see both of them go but one wanted to go and one didn't but that's just the business of the PBA," he added.
Ginebra drafted Mariano 16th overall in the 2015 PBA Draft. Since then, he won seven championships with the Gin Kings.