Air21, formerly the Burger King Whopper, and Talk ‘N Text finalized a five-man trade over the weekend to strengthen their teams for the 35th Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Fiesta Conference beginning on March 21.

6-foot-1 shooting guard Renren Ritualo and 6-foot-8 Yancy De Ocampo were received by the Express after sending JR Quiñahan, Mark Yee and Aaron Aban to the Texters last week.

“We already finished with this deal even before and we’re all excited to have Renren and Yancy back to our fold,” said Lito Alvarez, the team governor of the Air21 Express, expecting that his team will be a force to reckon with this conference.

Air21 also confirmed that the 6-foo-5 LeRoy Hickerson will arrive to the country on March 10 to join the team as import for the coming conference.

De Ocampo and Ritualo, the No. 1 and No. 8 picks in the 2002 Rookie Draft, respectively, moved back to Air21 after helping Talk n Text win a second championship in the Philippine Cup last year.

De Ocampo, a 6-foot-8 center out of St. Francis of Assisi College, played five seasons with Talk n Text, having his most productive year in the 2006-07 campaign where he averaged 9.4 points a game.

Ritualo, who was traded to Talk ‘N Text in 2006, finished with an average of 6.1 points in Talk ‘n Text last conference. He was averaging for almost 17 points in his early years with the Express.

De Ocampo registered 6.5 points and 4.2 rebounds last conference also for Talk ‘N Text.

‘I’m confident they will learn a lot of from coach Yeng (Guiao),” said Alvarez.

Playmaker Alex Cabagnot, Ronjay Buenafe, Richard Yee rookie Ronnie Matias and Beau Belga, among others are also ready to give their best this conference.

Mark Yee averaged 7.0 points per game, while Aban had 2.4 points and Quiñahan had 7.0 points per game last conference for Burger King (now Air21).