RAIN or Shine hopes to address its lack of size after signing 6-foot-5 free agent Philip "Papot" Paredes to a one conference contract.

The Elasto Painters opened the Philippine Cup with a dismal 1-4 record heading to the break as the league gives way to the PBA All-Star and Lenten Season.

And a big part of the team's struggle is the lack of size as first round rookie pick 6-foot-8 Luis Villegas has yet to see action this season with a knee injury.

Worse, fellow first round pick 6-foot-7 Keith Datu suffered an MCL (medial collateral ligament) sprain on his knee, leaving the Elasto Painters with just 6-foot-5 Beau Belga and 6-foot-4 Leonard Santillan as the remaining "bigs."

"Papot is a big man we needed to sign up to give us better depth in our big man rotation," Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao said in a statement posted at the team's official Facebook page.

"We needed someone who can relieve Beau in defending guys like June Mar Fajardo, Justin Araña and Christian Standhardinger. So if he can play five to six good minutes, it will be huge for us," he added.

Paredes is no stranger to the fiery mentor, having played under Guiao at NLEX in the 2019 and 2020 seasons.

The former La Salle slotman was selected 15th overall by Barako Bull during the 2014 PBA Draft. His PBA journeyman career started from there as he eventually played for GlobalPort (now NorthPort), Mahindra (Terrafirma), TNT and NLEX.

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