Kai Sotto's 7-foot-3 presence in the court proved crucial in Gilas Pilipinas' recent stints in the FIBA Asia Cup \qualifiers and Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
But will he be available for Gilas next assignment in the FIBA Asia Cup proper in August?
National team coach Tab Baldwin said they are not yet yet sure as the 19-year-old Pinoy also has a commitment with the Adelaide 36ers in Australia's NBL.
"The easy answer to your question is we're not sure yet," he said in The Link podcast with Rey Joble.
Badlwin said talks are currently ongoing between those in charge of Sotto.
"We're in discussions with his people, his agency. Now the Adelaide 36ers are involved in the discussions as well. For Kai, he's in the middle of a tug of war all the time, it's very tough for a 19-year-old kid to figure out what the priorities are when everybody wants to be the enforcing guy," said Baldwin.
The coach added they are also careful since they also wanted to ensure Sotto's development and future in basketball.
What they are sure of is Sotto's desire to play for the country as shown by his recently performances with Gilas.
"We're trying to keep everything as diplomatic as possible. We're trying to serve his interest as much as we can to make sure that Kai continues his pathway of development for his professional career and he's able to fulfill his passion, which is very evident now, of playing for the national team and obviously our desire to keep Kai involved as much as we can to continue to process of building a chemistry with these group players," said Baldwin.
"Everybody is hopeful. Everybody is working together at this point."
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