MANILA, Philippines -- Barangay Ginebra head coach Tim Cone has not had contact with big man Greg Slaughter for a while, and he remains unsure of what the future holds for the center.

Slaughter took a sabbatical from the PBA ahead of its new season, after apparently failing to sign a contract extension with the Gin Kings. Last month, he announced via social media that he has joined BeoBasket, the same agency that represents Denver's Nikola Jokic.

Speaking on "The Chasedown" recently, Cone said he has no updates to offer about Slaughter.

"We haven't had much contact with Greg. We had some right before the pandemic started, before we started to close things down. He left for the States and I know he's spoken to LA (Tenorio) a couple of times, he's spoken to some of the players," he said.

"But I really don't have an update on what he's doing and what his whereabouts are. So, in terms of Greg, we're kinda in limbo," he admitted.

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Cone expects to know more about Slaughter's future if and when the team returns to work. The PBA has been on hold since March due to the global health crisis, and the resumption of team practices was postponed when Metro Manila and neighboring provinces were placed on modified enhanced community quarantine.

One thing that Cone can confirm is that they have no desire to trade Slaughter, a former Rookie of the Year and Best Player of the Conference.

"Nobody's talking about anything in terms of trades. Too many things up in the air, like who's gonna pay contracts, financial matters. Things of that sort," said Cone. "And the other thing is, Greg would have to come in and work out a contract with the new team, even if he was traded."

"We don't have any conversations, we don't have any desire to trade Greg. We won the last championship with Greg, and you know, when he's healthy and he's going, he's a dominant player in the league," the coach further pointed out.

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In the 2019 PBA Governors' Cup, Slaughter averaged close to 11 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game for the Gin Kings.

Cone commended Slaughter's performance in the conference, noting that the big man was starting to become more comfortable in playing on the perimeter.

"That's the direction we would go in if he would come back and join us. We would continue to work on him as a perimeter big, not just a power, inside guy," said the coach.

(For more sports coverage, visit the ABS-CBN Sports website).