MANILA, Philippines — Seeing incoming PBA rookie RJ Abarrientos don the Gilas Pilipinas jersey could be a possibility, according to national coach Tim Cone.

But an immediate inclusion in the Gilas team may not happen soon.

For one, Cone, who selected Abarrientos third overall in last Sunday's PBA Rookie Draft, admitted that the former Far Eastern University is still young and will first have to learn the ropes his system beginning at Ginebra.

Cone, who has been at the helm at Ginebra since 2015, uses the same system at Gilas as coach.

"That's a long ways away right now," Cone said on Monday, pointing to Abarrientos joining Gilas in the near future. "Again, he is a young guy. Could be three, four years from now, you don't know what the team is going to be. But I keep emphasizing, every time you put somebody in on a team, (like RJ), you have to take somebody out."

Cone though is not closing the door on the young playmaker's potential to be part of Gilas in the near future, especially when he masters the triangle offense, a system the American has used with much success since his days at Alaska in 1989.

The Gilas mentor reasoned that veteran big man Japeth Aguilar's inclusion in the national team was largely due to his understanding of the triangle offense.

"He might be an exception," said Cone of the cat-quick Abarrientos. "But generally, that's one of the reasons why Japeth was the guy that stepped in for us aside from his size and athleticism, he also knows our system really well."

Abarrientos is currently seeing action for Strong Group in the William Jones Cup in Taiwan.

The nephew of PBA great Johnny has played for Gilas under coach Tab Baldwin in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Serbia in 2021, where he averaged 7.5 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 2.0 assists.

He also saw action in the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers last year.

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