Japeth Aguilar suffers minor injury, held out of final D-League tryout

LOS ANGELES – Former Philippine Basketball Association player Japeth Aguilar suffered a slight set back in his NBA quest when he suffered a hamstring injury before a scheduled workout with the NBA Development League team Iowa Energy last Saturday.

The 6’9”, 215-pound Aguilar, one of the best prospects from the Philippines, pulled his left hamstring during a shoot around preventing him from participating in the Energy open try out in Chicago, according to Aguilar’s agent Chris McGarry.

“It happened a few days before the workout with Iowa. It’s nothing serious. It’s just a matter of one muscle is weak and the other is strong. All athletes go through this,” said McGarry.

“The good news is, though he wasn’t able to play in the try out, he did meet with the coaches and staff. They got to know him,” McGarry added.

The 25-year-old Aguilar should start practicing again soon and the injury should not be a hindrance to his quest to becoming the first Filipino to be drafted in the NBA D-League draft.

The former PBA No. 1 draft pick Aguilar hopes to hear his name as one of the basketball players chosen in the eight round, 16 team NBA D-League draft on November 2.  During the past two months, the Filipino forward has worked out for several NBA and D-League teams.

Only 160 players are chosen to play in the D-League, which has become a vital resource for NBA teams and might be the best pathway for the Filipino to make it into the NBA. Last year, 60 players were called up to the NBA.

“It’ll be historic if it happens,” said McGarry. “If it doesn’t happen, then we will continue the journey [of making it into the NBA] and hopefully, sooner or later some team will recognize his abilities.”

via Aguilar suffers minor injury, held out of final D-League tryout.