THE NLEX Road Warriors and the Blackwater Bossing will get a fitting workout ahead of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup as they participate in the four-team exhibition series beginning August 31 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

NLEX and Blackwater will join visiting teams Bay Area Dragons and the LDLC Asvel, a French basketball club, in the tune-up games.

Dubbed as the League 75 FrancePhilippines, the exhibition series is in line with the 75 years of diplomatic relationship between the two countries.

For the Road Warriors and the Bossing,

it’s a great opportunity to get them prepared early.

“It’s now part of our preparation,” said Yeng Guiao, Road Warriors general manager and head coach. “We’re in no rush to get an import, but we might bring him early because of this. It’s an opportunity to play against bigger, crack teams, and it’s an opportunity to prepare us more for the Commissioner’s Cup.”

Guiao said he has become a big fan of European basketball, and it’s one of the reasons why his Road Warriors had embraced their style of play.

For Sy, this will help his squad prepare for the Commissioner’s Cup.

The Bossing had made a huge turnaround from their previous campaign. Last season, they only had one win to show in 22 games, and the team established the longest losing skid in league history, dropping 29 straight games.

“Management standpoint, we’re not satisfied with our Philippine Cup, we felt we could have moved farther,” added Sy. “We hope that this exhibition series against Tony Parker’s team, as well as the Dragons, will help improve our team.”

Parker, the retired NBA legend, is the owner of LDLC Asvel. He will bring a crack team led by Nando de Colo, the star player who torched Gilas Pilipinas in the 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The Dragons, who will be coached by Brian Goorjian, the coach who led Australia to a bronze medal finish in the 2020 Olympics, will bring in a solid squad that has been training in the Philippines for weeks now, led by 6-9 forward Duncan Reid, 7-5 Liu Chuanxing of the Chinese team and ex-NBA players Myles Powell and Andrew Nicholson.