Malik Pope will be import no. 4 for the San Miguel Beermen in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner's Cup.
In a bid to prop up their sagging fortunes in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner's Cup, defending champion San Miguel Beermen are making yet another import change.
The Beermen bring in Malik Pope to replace Jabari Narcis after going 1-2 with the latter in the mid-season joust.
San Miguel currently has a pedestrian 4-4 win-loss record.
After going undrafted in the NBA in 2018, the 6-foot-10 Pope played for PAOK in Greece before going on a journey that saw him play in the NBA G League.
Team manager Gee Abanilla confirmed to One Sports that Pope will see action in the Beermen's crucial match against Meralco at the Candon City Arena on Saturday, Jan. 18.
"Yes, Malik will play later," said Abanilla via text message.
With last season's champion import Bennie Boatwright out with an injury, the Beermen first fielded Quincy Miller to start the import-spiced conference, but didn't really make an impact for the June Mar Fajardo-led squad.
Then came Torren Jones, who was also their concurrent reinforcement for the East Asia Super League.
While Jones showed he could complement with Fajardo and co. and even helped the team win back-to-back games, San Miguel decided to make another switch and tapped Narcis, believing his size would make wonders.
Whether or not Pope will be tailor-fit for the struggline Beermen or not remains to be seen.