By Rey Joble

BE it Air21 or Burger King, the Lina Group of Companies will continue to invest on the future of its team.

Yesterday, the Express worked on separate deals to unload players from clotted positions and added three future first-round picks in the years to come. They unloaded veteran slotman Don Allado, swingmen KG Canaleta and JC Intal and likewise shipped banger Doug Kramer to balance their lineup.

In return, the Express secured three future first-round draft picks from Purefoods and Ginebra, while also adding to their roster promising newcomers Beau Belga and Chad Alonzo.

?We are continuously investing on our future,? Air21 president and incoming Philippine Basketball Association chairman Lito Alvarez said. ?Since the coming conference is an import-flavored tournament, we want a balanced lineup and we would like to give our potential players a chance to shine in other teams.?

Allado and Canaleta were traded to Purefoods in a six-player deal that sent to the Express Belga, Alonzo, guard Chico Lanete and the Giants? future first-round draft pick.

Minutes after Lanete was shipped to the Express, he was dealt to the Gin Kings along with college buddies Intal and Kramer in exchange for Ginebra?s first-round pick in 2012 and 2013. The deals were probably the biggest in terms of players involved this season, but Alvarez is convinced that the latest developments would be a win-win situation for all the teams and players involved.

?We also have to look at the future of our players. Allado and Canaleta are two talented players. While they will help us a lot, I believe they will shine more with Purefoods since it needs to strengthen its frontline,? said Alvarez.

?As far as Intal is concerned, we believe that he was put in a difficult position of playing under the shadows of Arwind Santos, Canaleta and Gary David and with Cyrus Baguio already in our lineup, we felt that he could excel more with Ginebra, which is lacking the no. 3 spot. Kramer will also provide depth in the frontline rotation of Ginebra rather than playing with us. And since this is an import-laden conference, guys like Homer Se and JR Qui?ahan will most likely play the power forward spot and he will be dislodged, so it?s better to see him shine in another team,? added Alvarez.

But the biggest winner in the multi-player trade dealings were the Giants. Not only they have bolstered their frontline, the seven-time PBA champions also got an additional scoring threat to complement James Yap, Kerby Raymundo, Enrico Villanueva and Peter June Simon.