Two days after the trade that brought up Renren Ritualo and Yancy De Ocampo back on their fold, the Air21 Express made another surprising trade on Tuesday to receive San Miguel Beer’s flamboyant playmaker Mike Cortez, Rich Alvarez and Doug Kramer.

Cortez, who started his career with Alaska in 2003 before moving to San Miguel Beer in 2008, was shipped by the Beermen to the Express to get point guard Alex Cabagnot, according to Air21 team governor Lito Alvarez.

‘I’m very excited to see this team. I can’t wait for it,” said Alvarez. “Doug (Kramer) has played for us and I like his work ethic. I also like Rich Alvarez. The two are college teammates.”

De Ocampo, who was received by the Express along with Ritualo from Talk ‘N Text, was immediately transferred to Ginebra for the rights of 6-foot-4 Alvarez and 6-foot-5 power forward Kramer who are both highly-recommended by coach Yeng Guiao. 

The Express had released JR Quinahan, Mark Yee and Aaron Aban to the Texters for De Ocampo and Ritualo.

Alvarez said import Leroy Hickerson, who arrived on Wednesday, made a good impression in the tourney where they placed second behind the UAE national team.

“The import we’ve got and the new players we enlisted make me really excited about the coming tourney,” said Alvarez.

Kramer and Alvarez, former Ateneo teammates, are reunited at Air21 where they have found themselves with former La Salle Archers Cortez and Ritualo.

“Definitely, Renren Ritualo will stay with us. Renren and Ronjay Buenfe will be our main men at off-guard spot,” said Alvarez.

Cortez, who averaged 10.0 points along with 3.1 assists and 3.2 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game last Philippine Cup for San Miguel Beer, is expected to play a big role to the Express’ backcourt together with Ronjay Buenafe, Egay Billiones and Ritualo.

Alvarez, the 2004 rookie top overall pick by the defunct Shell squad, averaged 3.4 rebounds and 2.1 points per game last Philippine Cup for Ginebra, while Kramer did not play mostly on games.

Cabagnot, who will play with his fourth team after Sta. Lucia, Coca-Cola and Burger King, had an average of 13.1 points along with 4.4 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game last conference.